Suit filed over teen’s death in Alleghany crash

The parents of a Covington High School student killed in a car wreck on the way to sell ads for the school's yearbook are suing the School Board, the principal and a teacher for $1 million.

According to the lawsuit, Robert Smith, 16, was the back-seat passenger in a vehicle driven by classmate Norman Lee Thomas on Sept. 19, 2007. Thomas, who was 17 at the time, was driving at speeds of more than 100 mph on Interstate 64, according to another passenger in the car. The car went off the road and flipped.

Smith was not wearing a seat belt and was partly ejected through the windshield. He died at Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital within 24 hours of the wreck. The boys in the front seat suffered minor injuries. Police said both of them were wearing seat belts.

Roanoke attorney David Nixon filed the civil suit May 18 in Alleghany County Circuit Court on behalf of Smith's parents, Vincent and Drema Smith. The Smiths claim their son did not have permission to leave school to sell yearbook ads, and he should not have been permitted to ride with Thomas, who had a provisional license at the time. In Virginia, all drivers younger than 18 are issued provisional licenses containing restrictions, one of which limits the number of minor passengers to one.

Thomas was charged with involuntary manslaughter in 2008. He pleaded no contest and received a five-year suspended sentence, according to court records.