A tractor-trailer driver who faces felony charges in the August 2023 crash in Nebraska that killed a woman and her young son, 8, is now being accused of using Snapchat as he crashed, according to reporting from the Miami Herald.
Justin Zoerb, 22, was charged with two counts of motor vehicle homicide and one count of reckless driving following the Clay County, Nebraska, crash on Aug. 9, 2023.
The crash happened around 4 p.m., killing 8-year-old Ryker Schlichtman and Nicole Pavelka, 30. Three other children in the family were hospitalized for their injuries but lived.
Zoerb’s tractor-trailer was carrying animal feed, and, according to local media, he was allegedly sending and receiving messages on Snapchat, a photograph-centered social media platform. His last message was timestamped for 4:07 p.m. and a 911 call reporting the crash was recorded as coming in at 4:08 p.m.
Zoerb was allegedly going 70 mph in a 65-mph zone when he tried to brake and steer to the right in a bid to avoid traffic in front of him, hitting Pavelka’s car head-on, according to reporting from local media. Both mother and son died at the scene.
Distracted Driving: A Major Road Hazard
Leesfield & Partners is among the oldest personal injury law firms in Coconut Grove and has offices in Central Florida. The firm has also had a foothold in Key West, Florida, since at least the 1980s. In that time, Leesfield & Partners has handled thousands of catastrophic injury and wrongful death cases, stemming from crashes on Florida roads. With Florida’s rising population and an increase in traffic, crashes that bog down rush-hour traffic seemingly occurring more often. Attorneys know that these are among the most common injury claims, historically accounting for a significant portion of overall cases.
Distracted driving remains among the more dangerous road hazards along with driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. In 48 years of personal injury practice, Leesfield & partners has seen firsthand the tragedies that these negligent decisions behind the wheel can have on families and loved ones. The fallout, witnessed over a successful career as a board-certified personal injury attorney inspired Ira Leesfield, the firm’s Founder and Managing Partner, to support organizations dedicated to public safety.
In over three decades, Mr. Leesfield’s charitable organization, The Leesfield Family Foundation, has contributed to organizations such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) and Friends of The Underline, an organization dedicated to pedestrian safety and transforming the previously unused space beneath Miami-Dade County ‘s Metrorail system into a 10-mile linear park and community gathering space.
Florida Crash Stats
According to numbers from the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, distracted driving was a factor in more than 54,700 crashes in 2023. There were nearly 400,000 crashes statewide in that year with 3,412 fatalities and 252,279 reported injuries. In Monroe County, there were 1,401 crashes in 2023 alone resulting in the deaths of 18 people and 925 injuries.
In 2024 in Monroe County, there have been 1,546 total crashes resulting in the deaths of five people and injury to at least 1,118 others.
Previous Cases
Leesfield & Partners previously handled the case of a bicyclist who was severely injured while stopped off the shoulder of the Overseas Highway in Monroe County. The bicyclist was hit by a negligent and distracted driver who was focused on the car’s GPS instead of the road when they crashed into our client.
The result was multiple life-threatening injuries. The firm secured a $5.35 million settlement for the injured bicyclist in that case.
A deputy with the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office and his son are among some of Leesfield & Partners’ car crash clients. The father and son were involved in a high-speed crash when another driver failed to yield and pulled out right in front of their car, causing the collision. Security footage from nearby businesses and dashboard data concluded that the deputy was not speeding at the time of the crash. The other driver’s insurance company tendered its $300,000+ policy limits.
The firm previously represented a driver who was rear-ended by another car on Palm Avenue in Key West, causing serious injuries.
A six-figure settlement was recently secured for an injured Monroe County driver by Evan Robinson, a Leesfield & Partners Trial Attorney.
Another case, also out of Key West, involved the permanent injury and disfigurement of a man riding a scooter who was hit by an ambulance. The man had a green light and, as he crossed the intersection, was hit by an ambulance and thrown into a cement wall. The man was airlifted to the hospital and was hospitalized for 12 days while he received treatment. In addition to multiple broken bones in his face and injuries to his teeth, the man’s back was fractured in three places. One vertebra was almost completely crushed in the incident. The ambulance driver said that because he was on the way to an emergency, he had the right of way, but no lights or siren signaled that he was in the middle of an emergency that would prompt other drivers on the road to yield to his emergency vehicle or know that he would not stop at the red light.
Attorneys with the firm secured a $2.1 million award for the client in that case.
If you or a loved one was injured on the road in Monroe County, don’t wait. Call 305-854-4900 to speak to a Leesfield & Partners attorney today.