Victim’s mother files civil lawsuit in hit-and-run case

Accident investigators work the scene of a hit and run involving a student and a vehicle at a bus stop on South Gladstone Avenue in Columbus, Ind., Monday, Aug. 30, 2021. Mike Wolanin | The Republic

COLUMBUS, Ind. — The mother of a 16-year-old Columbus East High School student struck and killed by a car late last summer while trying to board a school bus has filed a civil lawsuit against the driver accused in the criminal case.

Teresa E. Burbrink states she has suffered and incurred damages as the result of the death of her daughter Lily Streeval, who died after the incident on South Gladstone Avenue in the early morning hours of Aug. 30.

Lily Streeval

Burbrink claims the defendant in both the criminal case and her lawsuit, Shiam Shankara Subramanian, was careless and negligent when he drove around the stopped school bus and hit her daughter, according to the lawsuit. A criminal trial in the case is tentatively scheduled to begin Sept. 12.

Shiam Sunder Shankara Subramanian

On Aug. 30, 2021, a southbound vehicle in the 1900 block of South Gladstone struck Lily Streeval as she was walking eastbound across the two-lane roadway to board the northbound Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp. bus, investigators said. Police also said the BCSC bus was not moving with the stop arms extended and warning lights flashing when Streeval was hit by the car.

Although the suspect attempted to flee the scene, police said Subramanian was followed by a witness until the suspect became stuck in a yard near County Road 250E, where he was arrested, court documents state. In criminal court, Subramanian is charged with leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death or catastrophic injury as a Level 4 felony, as well as passing a school bus when the arm signal is extended causing death as a Level 5 felony.

In her civil lawsuit filed Feb. 22 against the defendant, the document states Teresa Burbrink is seeking damages for the loss of her daughter’s love and companionship, the loss of her services, funeral costs and expenses of health care and hospitalization.

The lawsuit also states the mother is also seeking the reasonable expense of psychiatric and psychological counseling, as well as the financial means to cover uninsured debts that she’s obligated to pay on behalf of her late daughter.

Burbrink is also seeking punitive damages “in a sum sufficient to deter like conduct in the future and to punish the defendant,” the lawsuit states.

For the complete story, see Friday’s Republic.