The parents of a teenager killed in a 2015 car wreck are upset about a fundraiser to recoup legal fees, medical bills and other expenses of the family of the driver who caused the wreck.
The GoFundMe page called Family Help Fund seeks to raise $75,000 for the family of Abigail McGaha.
Prosecutors charged McGaha and later reached a plea agreement after she crashed an SUV in 2015. Police said the vehicle had been traveling more than twice the speed limit.
The crash killed Alex Mundt, 16, of Sante Fe, New Mexico. He had been wearing a seat belt and riding in the car with McGaha and one other passenger at the time.
The GoFundMe webpage lists the creator as Joseph McGaha.
The fundraiser description says, "Abby's criminal legal battle is pretty much behind us. But the civil battle remains with Alex's family."
It cites legal fees from criminal and civil cases, medical bills from the accident and a family knee surgery as creating a "financial burden."
The post said the two families settled out of court to avoid a civil lawsuit.
"The second portion of an established payment is due to Alex's family in February. The first payment was made in November. We are establishing a Go Fund Me for this purpose," part of the post read.
Mike and Lynn Mundt, Alex's parents, had not been not aware of the page until WSOC contacted the couple Monday.
"I'm stunned that they would do such a thing," said Mike Mundt. "I can't imagine what all was involved in the case and then a civil settlement afterwards, but those are natural consequences of crime and to ask the community to pay for the consequences of crime is incredulous to me."
Calls and messages made in attempt to reach the McGaha family were not immediately returned.
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