Zachary Cassity Is Not A Good Friend
Zachary Cassity (left) Christopher Lantz (right)
Bennington, NE — Friends don’t let friends ride when they drive drunk. 18-year-old Zachary Cassity is not a good friend.  His fatal friendship has cost one young man his life, and three others have been injured, one with a broken neck. Deputies state that alcohol and speed were the cause of a traffic fatality that occurred in the small town of Bennington, Nebraska.
Make no mistake, Zach Cassity likes to drink. His Myspace URL is “drnknboy69â€. I’m not sure if he is referring to himself as drinking boy or drunken boy. It would be a pretty good guess that he doesn’t mean cola.
Zach Cassity was driving his car early Saturday morning. He had four friends as passengers. At approximately 1:15am, his vehicle left the roadway, rolled over several times and came to rest in a ditch. Christopher Lantz, 19, was ejected and died at the scene, along with his family’s hopes and dreams, pinned under the wreckage. Andrea Prine, 16, suffered a broken neck. Brett Rayman, 19, received broken ribs, and Nicole Moeller, 17, had bumps and bruises. Police will not say what injuries Cassity sustained, but it looks like he got off pretty easy to me, other than getting arrested for DUI.
Some people are calling this a tragic accident. Choosing to drink and get behind the wheel is no accident. It is a decision that sometimes comes with fatal consequences.
Don’t buy into this “He has to live with this all his lifeâ€. That is crap. This is something his victims and their families will live with this rest of their lives.  I guarantee you that Zach wants to get his ass out of trouble and put it all behind him as soon as possible.
For anyone out there who still insists on riding with a drunken buddy, put on your damn seatbelt!!
aww healing prayers - RIP Christopher - I do wish you had on your seat belt… better yet I wished you all knew not to be drinking alcohol.
Where I come from your not allowed to drink or buy it until you are at least 21…
someone fesssssss up who supplied the party goods ?
Nebraska is alot like South Dakota, where I grew up– Sadly, it’s incredibly easyfor kids to get ahold of booze, there is always someone’s brother, sister,cousin, even the local wino that panhandles at the liquor store, available to buy. Making it very very common for kids to drink ALOT and to drive OFTEN..
By the 10th grade I’d lost 5 classmates in 5 different incidents.
I feel bad for the families of the passengers.. as for the driver, I don’t see this really changing him in anyway.. if he is out of jail you can bet he will be drinking and driving.
It’s shit like this that makes me an over bearing, paranoid,obnoxious parent– thank God my kids don’t hold it against me.
Wow that sucks…. sure feel bad for the family of Christopher. Zach on the other hand is an irresponsible idiot! Some people may say oh he was only 20 just a kid!! just a kidd my ass the fucking guy is legal to drink in ALL provinces of Canada, hes old enough to serve over seas and hes old enough to take responsibility for his own actions.. I hope he gets the Max!
I read an article online not too long ago about how people were getting the maximum sentence in DUI cases because the prosecutors were looking up myspace accounts and searching the internet for pics of the idiots partying after the accidents. I hope they do the same with him and throw the book at him.
You could send your links here;
Sarpy County Sheriff Investigations;
Crimes Against Persons 402-593-4167
The Crime Against Person Unit investigates any crimes which are against persons, such as assaults, homicides, strong armed robbery and child abuse/neglect.
When I was 20, my best friend was killed in an accident in which she got in the car with a drunk driver. They were both wasted, the roads were icy and slick (January in Illinois), and God knows they just HAD to fucking drive a half an hour to the nearest Steak ‘n Shake. The driver (also my friend) didn’t hit the brakes until they were in the ditch. My BF was killed almost instantly from massive head trauma. The driver was injured, but not badly. When she came to, and found what had happened, she was suffering quite enough. The small town I’m from became divided; those who chose to hate the driver, and those who chose to forgive her. I forgave. I also basically lost touch with everyone in town immediately after, the forgiven driver included.
It may be stupid to drive drunk, and even stupider to have passengers while driving drunk. The passengers made the choice to ride. So, who’s to hate? The whole lot of ‘em? It’s just kids, being dumb and thinking they’re invincible.
I realize this is a crime that some deem worthy of shame, but I’m not going to contribute any…
RIP Christopher
I hear you Mandella. I have never, ever drank and drove a car. However, I cannot say (who can) that I have never gotten into other peoples cars that may have had too much to drink.
I agree 100%. I also had a friend who was killed by a drunk driver, her fiance. His prison term was secondary compared to the guilt he will feel for the rest of his life.
I am not defending the actions of this young man, and I am glad to see this story front paged. Too many young people go out and get wasted and drive, night after night . . . reading this article may serve as a wake up call. This can and will happen, which is why driving under the influence is ilegal. Kind of makes you wonder how bars still exist. . .
R.I.P Christopher
I agree also that the passengers made a choice to ride. I just wish someone would have stepped up and took the keys from this driver so this tragedy wouldn’t have had to happen.
I also had a friend that drove drunk, hit a tree at 90 miles per hour and split the car in half. The backseat passengers died (I did not know the ones who died) but the friend and front seat passenger, remarkably, only had minor injuries. We are no longer in contact and it isn’t because I couldn’t forgive him for what he did. It was his lack of remorse and his ability to continue on with his daily activites (family had money, big buck attorney, he was sentenced to 4 years in a workhouse setting, but released after almost 3 years) like nothing ever happened. I just couldn’t get over that fact.
RIP Christopher.
Yes drunk driving is sad, but part of the reason why I actually like dreamindemon.com is because the content is usually interesting. I don’t know about elsewhere, but this happens all the time in Daytona Beach / Cocoa Beach / Orlando. Sad that there are lives lost but can’t we keep it to the unique or interesting cases?
I thought the interest lay in the predictable irony of his myspace url. Why, oh why would you get into the car with this boy? Dumbasses.
Stupid, stupid, stupid. Every generation has to learn it all over again, I guess. Some number of its members must become statistics and photos in the yearbook with a black border around them before everyone else gets the picture that a drunk is never a safe driver.
As several have stated on here already, there within lies the problem with durnken driving. You have people that either don’t give a damn about anyone or anything but themselves but more often, what happens is cases like this. They feel indestructable, nothing bad will ever happen to me, it’s always those OTHER people that don’t know their limits, I know when I’m good to drive. Should he be punished, yes he should. But when I read cases like this, part of me screams lock em up, you should know better. The other part of me…. remembers back just a few years when I was this age and think to myself… there but by the grace of god goes I.
I am originally from a very small town in Nebraska, and have had many people close to me be in accidents with alcohol, especially in highschool. While my heart goes out to the families involved, I also agree that those kids choose to ride with a drunk driver, and they were probably also drinking. It could have easily been another of the kids riding that were driving, and the same thing could have happened. The whole thing is just sad.
Sorry, but as much of a tragedy that this was, all of these kids knew what they were doing. Each and every one, lied to their parents about where they were, claiming that they were sleeping over each others houses, just so they could go out drinking and driving. Not only should the driver be charged with vehicular homicide, they should find out which one of those kids provided the alcohol, and charge that person with involuntary manslaughter. Then, find out what adult bought the alcohol, and charge that person as well, with contributing to the delinquency of a minor (all of those kids) and vehicular manslaughter for the death of Christopher. If there is no tolerance for this kind of thing and the book is thrown at each and every case, then maybe, just maybe a message will be sent to the next group of kids that decides that doing something this stupid is fun.
Honestly, I see so many parents turn a blind eye to their kids if they have been drinking, thinking, “kids will be kids”. No, no, no……Parents are suppose to set the example that these kids will follow. One underage drinking episode will lead to another. What ever happen to being a parent to your kids first? Know your child. Know your childs friends, and stay involved in everything they do. If they say they are sleeping over a friends house, call the house and talk to the parents. Sure, your kids may get angry that you are checking up on them, but at least they will live long enough to be mad, and get past it.
So just how many of you know zach or chris personally? Because I think that if you did none of you would be saying the things that you are. You are all arrogant assholes and maybe you should find out what really happend before you go around bashing on zach. And maybe your site should get the story RIGHT! First of all Zach did have serious injuries so screw all of you that say he got of “easy”. And the not believing all this shit about him having to “live with it for the rest of his life”– well he will have to live with it. Chris was his best friend and NONE of you know how he feels right now! You think he just goes on with his daily life like nothing happend- well thats not exactly the case seeing that Chris was in his life every single day and its just not the same without him. EVERY single person in that car was drunk- zach having drank the least, being why he drove. Yeah maybe he shouldnt have gotten in the car and driven, but i’m sure each of you can name off atleast 3 of your close friends or family members who have done it! And which one of you knows his blood alcohol level? There is a no tolerance rule for minors so he could have very easily had a .02 and gotten a DUI. Every one of them got in that car knowing full well what was going on so don’t just put the blame on him.
And another thing for you to think about– maybe if any of you knew what the hell you were talking about you would know that somebody grabbed the wheel which caused the car to go off the road- but wait- all of you have your heads to far up your asses to think about anything other than blaming a poor kid for an ACCIDENT! for which he is suffering tremensley and will never be the same over.
SO in conclusion- fuck all of you who have anything to say about Zach because he is not a bad kid and he doesn’t deserve the shit that you are putting him through.
Trust some idiot defender to resurrect an almost non-story. Sweetheart, in this case, living through this accident that killed a young man is what some of us would call “getting off easy.” And if you’d actually read the comments, no one particularly picked on Zach, recognizing the shared responsibility of all the passengers in this car. In fact, I believe best wishes for healing were expressed off the bat somewhere. And Zach does deserve shit - he chose to drink, then drive, and now someone is dead. And no, I can’t name three people close to me who I’ve known to drive under the influence. I think it must be a country thing, because here where I live, the people I know take this shit seriously, and use designated drivers and taxi cabs.
Zach feeling sorry that it happened to him will never change what happened to Chris. Zach made his bed and now has to lie in it. Chris gets to lie in the ground.
Next time one of those 3 people you know who drive drunk get behind the wheel of a car, STOP THEM in Chris’ memory. Do it any way you can, even if it means calling the cops. No more fitting tribute to a friendship could exist at this point.
It must be a country thing? Thats the biggest load of bullshit I have ever heard… We’re not stupid hicks like your trying to make us out to be. But like I said before.. which one of you knows chris or zach personally? Or which one of you can make a statement based on FACTS from the accident. None of you can. None of you know what Chris would have wanted for Zach either. He would never want him to go to jail– Chris had been through the same thing almost a year ago. He chose to drive drunk and he was in a serious accident. Zach wasn’t anywhere near drunk when this happend and if this site could get the story right you would know that. I was present at the hospital when the doctors told him what his blood alcohol level was– and you would be surprised. And speed was not a factor because the speed limit was 60 and his cruise control was set on 53– probably another thing none of you knew because you don’t care to find out. You just care to make a person feel like complete shit for something that wasn’t entirely his fault. If you know them personally then say whatever the hell you want about them– but if you don’t even know them (and most of you don’t) then just leave them alone because you have no place to say anything about them or what they would have wanted– or what Chris’ family would have wanted. What you probably dn’t know is that his family is fighting FOR Zach. They don’t want him to go to jail because they understand that it was a mistake and an accident– If they are willing to forgive him and understand, why can’t you people that don’t even know him or Chris just leave them alone.
So what was Zach’s blood alcohol level? Was he or was he not drinking prior to the accident?
Now that you’ve acknowledged that drinking and driving is stupid, why don’t you try acknowledging that it also ought to be punished - because sometimes it causes people to wind up dead. Chris’s family may well be forgiving of this young man, but I am less so. The next time he gets in his car drunk and kills someone, maybe it won’t be someone who chose to get in a vehicle with his alcohol abusing ass.
So this time he kills his best friend — and next time he kills who — your mother? My sister? An elderly person crossing the street?
This just shreds any respect I had left for you and your friends. Chris and his best friend Zach didn’t learn a damned thing from what happened that time. They chose to party on, two young drunkies doing their best-buddies drunkie thing. What assholes.
An accident reconstruction team found that Cassity had been drinking and speeding when he lost control of the car. His blood alcohol level was more than twice the legal limit.
http://www.km3news.com/Global/story.asp?s=8797894
Jessie917, STFU.
And he wasn’t seriously hurt either according to the article. Thanks Morbid!
HERE WE GO AGAIN with this “mistake” bullshit.” How many times do we have to say it? “Oops, I forgot to pick up the dry cleaning” is a mistake. “Oops, I called my husband’s coworker Bob ‘Bill’” is a mistake. Anything that involves the death of another human being? “Mistake” don’t begin to cover it, m’man.
WTF is up with the friends of drunk drivers (usually young drunk drivers)? They show up here, wanting us to know how bad their buddy feels for killing a friend. Maybe the next bit is about how young folks in this community got nothin’ better to do than drink. And what, we’re supposed to say, “Aww, that poor darlin’, I need to give him a hug cuz he killed his friend”? Fuck that. And fuck you, Jessie. Go suck your “friend’s” dick and leave us the fuck alone. If we’re lucky, he’ll kill your ass next and we won’t have to listen to your bullshit anymore. And if we’re really lucky, he’ll find his ass locked up forever and no longer a threat to anyone on this God’s green earth.
Jess, I am sorry that you are hurting because your friend is hurting, and he will truley need someone to believe in him right now to get through this. Mistakes are made, yes. His first accident in 2006 was that mistake. We, as humans are suppose to learn from out mistakes, and often, we don’t get second chances with the serious stuff in life. Your friend got a second chance after the 2006 accident. He tempted the fates once again and this time lost. This was not a mistake. It was stupidity on his part. I really am sorry if that hurts you to hear that, but you need to honestly learn from this too. You are young. Do not ever get into a car with someone that has been drinking, even if hey say that they feel fine, no matter if that is tomorrow or in 10 years. Just don’t do it. Be Zachs friend. Support him. He will need it now more than ever because only he is the person who feels the pain and guilt. But there is still a chance for him to save himself some. He needs to tell the popper authorities who supplied the alcohol. An adult purchase it. That adult is just as responsable for Chris’s death, if not more responsable because adults are the ones who are suppose to set the example. If he cooperates, maybe they won’t be so hard on hom and then he can start to move forward. He can ask for forgiveness all he wants, but GOD only helps those who help themselves and to continue to drink and drive does not show that he is remorseful for anything. Was he remorseful for the accident in 2006? Obviously not if he went out and did it again. He knew the dangers, but he did it anyway. He was lucky that only one person died, if you want to call that luck. Jess, make the difference. Don’t let your friends do this, now or ever.
Thank you, Lorraine. I think you said it much better than I did.
One of the most frustrating things for me, is if I ever caught my underage kid doing this, I would kick their ass. Emotionally, they would be hamburg and they would be grounded until they started college. I actually do have an inside track on this accident, and these kids have been caught drinking before, and the parents did nothing in the way of reprimand or punishment. Even now, after the accident, the parents of a couple of these kids have done nothing about it. That really bothers me. How can a parent let their child down like that. When a person brings a life into this world, that person is taking on a job of raising that child, to be the best that they can be, nothing less. These parents are letting their children down. Granted, the kids still make the choices and need to answer for their actions, but as far as I am concerned, the parents are playing a pretty big roles in this too, if they are idolley standing by and doing nothing knowing that thier kids are drinking. That just frosts my ass. I have 2 kids. I know how hard it is to raise them. It is exhausting being there for them to guide and protect, but I can honestly say that they are alive today, because I took the time to be there for them, checking up on them, and I will continue to do it. That is what I signed on for when I decided to have a child.
These kids need something to fill all the time that they have to spend drinking. Chain them to a piano and make them practice. Make them learn a foreign language. Or just force them to spend hours picking up litter by the side of the road — it will be good practice for when they end up on a chain gang. I don’t understand why these kids aren’t at home working to make home a better, happier place or at least a cleaner, tidier one. Maybe we need to get cows and goats and horses so the kids have to milk and clean stalls and cut hay and don’t have time for this stupid drinking b.s.