A father who lost his daughter is fighting back.
Jane Modlesky was killed in a car crash in 2013.
Now her father is suing some of the other kids involved in a party she had been at and he’s also trying to hold their parents accountable.
Two years later, the loss of 17-year-old Jane Modlesky is still difficult for her father Bernard Modlesky.
“He’s been devastated by this and basically tormented,” says Kevin Ferry, attorney for Bernard Modlesky.
In 2013, police say Jane Modlesky was killed after crashing her SUV on Woodhaven Road in Glastonbury.
Now a recently filed lawsuit is placing blame for her death partly on what happened at party Modlesky had been at earlier.
It claims the then teenage host of the party supplied alcohol to her friends, including Modlesky, and did not stop them from leaving in a car.
The host is now being sued, as are her parents, Paul and Lisa Finklestein, even though police say the parents were not home at the time.
“The law has placed a responsibility on the parents as social hosts who knew or should have known or created an atmosphere of underage drinking to be responsible for that dangerous activity that is going on in their home,” says Ferry. “This home became common place for underage kids to feel safe to drink and unfortunately it spun out of control.”
The Finklestein parents have never been criminally charged.
Now, Jane Modlesky’s father hopes all parents learn a lesson from this deadly mix of teenagers and alcohol.
“He’s really interested in putting a spotlight on underage drinking that’s going on under the noses of parents in Glastonbury, but not just in Glastonbury, in the state and across the country,” says Ferry.
Also named in the lawsuit are two other teenagers who had been at the party and their parents.
The Finklestein’s declined comment and their attorney’s have not yet returned our messages.
