I lost my 16-year-old daughter Cassandra Kay Linder March 13th 2023, due to a distracted/fatigued CMV driver. She was on her way home on the first day of spring break after receiving some hand me down clothes from her older sister who lived in Garden City, Ks as well. On her way home, a CMV driver completely missed a curve on a clear beautiful clear day. She saw it coming, and tried to avoid the crash, but was hit at 55MPH. The impact broke both her legs, her arm and severed her liver. Her seat belt saved her life from the initial impact. She did not break her neck or back or have a life-threatening head injury, but because her car was mangled up, it took rescue 40 minutes to extract her. During the time she was extracted she bled to death from her broken extremities. The CMV operator had minor injuries and was not even wearing his seatbelt. Was on his phone and as his report has said, he reached down for a bottle of water that had fallen to the floor. The CMV was equipped with an onboard camera and the entire crash was recorded. It had a forward-facing camera but not a driver facing camera. After research into the driver, we uncovered that he had an active TikTok account and that it was full of videos of himself driving down the road holding his phone at night and during the day. The videos show his reckless disregard for others by recording while driving. We believe had the truck been equipped with a driver facing camera, the driver would have been more alert and cautious about how he drove the vehicle.
On April 1, 2025, the driver of the CMV pled guilty to vehicular homicide, a misdemeanor in Kansas, he received a sentence of 30 days in the county jail. Our family asked the county attorney and Judge in the case, “Where was Cassy’s plea deal on March 13th, 2023” She received a death sentence because of his selfish actions.
Her death was not an Accident!
“Father of an Angel” Todd Linder