Lily Streeval
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.
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.
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.
Besides Subramanian, a second co-defendant listed in Burbrink’s lawsuit is her ex-husband and Lily Streeval’s father. Court documents state Mark Streeval is seeking to become a co-plaintiff with his ex-wife in her lawsuit. However, Teresa Burbrink named her ex-husband as a co-defendant to prevent that from happening, according to the lawsuit.
Judge Kelly Benjamin issued an order on Feb. 24 that excludes Mark Streeval from joining his ex-wife as a co-plaintiff. The mother’s attorney, R. Daniel Craven of Indianapolis, cited an Indiana law that states that in the case of a divorce, only the primary custodial parent (Teresa Burbrink) can take legal action against a person who caused the injury or death of a child.
Burbrink had been the primary custodian of her daughter since the couple divorced on June 8, 2010, court documents state. But on March 21, Mark Streeval’s attorney, Elliott Happel of Columbus, filed a counter claim that states the father had been awarded legal joint custody and exercised regular parenting time with his late daughter. Despite Benjamin’s order, the father continues to seek a legal decision that would entitle him to a properly apportioned share of any damages his ex-wife may be awarded.
Subramanian retained Indianapolis attorneys James H. Voyles and Brittney Newland to handle his criminal defense, and has now hired Noblesville attorney Michael Walschlager to represent him in the civil lawsuit.
No further dates regarding the civil lawsuit have been scheduled at this time.
