The parents of a teenager killed in a drunken driving accident after he left an Ottawa County high school campus have settled a civil lawsuit against the school district.
Duane and Donna Kerns sued the Fairland school board after their 17-year-old son was killed in a single-vehicle accident on April 20, 2011. The Tulsa World's Sheila Stogsdill reported Friday the lawsuit was settled for an undisclosed amount.
Colton Kerns was helping classmates decorate for the prom the day of the accident. He was also in the school parking lot mixing vodka and soda and drinking it.
School officials had the intoxicated teen taken home, but Kerns turned around and drove back to school.
Later he sent text messages to students containing a photo of himself wearing a prom suit with the message that “this was the last time that they were going to hear from him because he was going to outrun the police,” the affidavit states. An autopsy report showed Colton Kern’s blood-alcohol level registered 0.13. The legal limit for driving in Oklahoma is 0.08.
The parents sued the board on civil rights and negligence claims.