Teen waits for justice two years after losing leg in drunken driving wreck

Victim's family angry, frustrated with slow pace of BCSO investigation

SAN ANTONIO – More than two years ago, Peyton Grasso lost her leg, and nearly lost her life, in what investigators believe was a drunken driving accident.

The teen was critically injured after attending a graduation party, where she admits she drank alcohol for the first time. Grasso said she was then driven home by another partygoer.

While Grasso is forced to live with the consequences of her decision for the rest of her life, the teen driver who caused the accident has never been arrested or charged in the case.

The Grasso family reached out to the Defenders to voice their frustration with the Bexar County Sheriff's Office and their lack of progress on the case.

Grasso said she will never forget her first high school drinking party, because she lives with the painful reminders every day.

"I only remember about 15 minutes of the party because it was my first time getting drunk, and it was my first party too," Grasso said. "It wasn't worth it for one night. I've suffered every day for two years."

Grasso said she had 4 shots and then blacked out.

At some point in the night, a new friend, whom Grasso had driven to the party, decided to drive them home in Grasso's car. Witnesses told investigators that teen driver had also been drinking at the party.

The underage driver lost control of the car on I-35 South, near Kinney Road. She was reportedly speeding and hit an exit sign, which caused the car to roll three times and hit a steel utility pole.

Grasso was left pinned inside the car. It took firefighters more than an hour to cut her mangled body from the wreckage. She was then airlifted to University Hospital.

When Grasso woke up eight days later, her life was forever changed. Her right leg had been severed below the knee and she had several other injuries.

"I suffered cardiac arrest twice. I have a traumatic brain injury. My C2 (disk) shattered, which resulted in a C1 to C3 fusion. My lungs collapsed twice," Grasso said. "It's not just a physical strain. It's a mental strain. It's an emotional strain and a psychological strain. It takes a toll on you."

Warning: Some of the images are graphic and may be disturbing to some viewers.

Since the accident, Grasso has tried to turn her bad decision into a learning experience for other teens by sharing her story and the consequences of her decision at local schools and colleges.

"In my eyes, I'm here for a reason. I want people to just hear my story and see it as a warning," Grasso said. "I know that it's not going to stop people from going to parties and drinking and everything, but I just hope they do it more responsibly and they plan while they can."

Peyton's mom, Julia Grasso, has been by her daughter's side since the accident and during the 17 surgeries that followed.

"I think she is amazing. There's no way that I would be able to handle what has happened to her the way she has handled it," Julia Grasso said. "I'm very glad she's still here, but life is much harder."

While Julia helps her daughter recover from her injuries and prepare for her first year of college, she has also been fighting to get Peyton justice, but the case isn't progressing. Despite repeated calls and emails to BCSO detectives and the sheriff, Grasso said it's been difficult to get any answers about why it's taking so long to arrest or charge the driver.

"I'd like some answers from the sheriff's office, I think it's time to get some answers," Julia Grasso said. "My daughter has to face the consequences of one choice of one night, and from the moment she opened her eyes, she's taken that responsibility and she wants to get her message out. Bexar County has done nothing, and they're sending a huge message to Bexar County teens, and to Texas in general, that if you're underage or if you drink and drive, nothing's going to happen."

James Keith, spokesman for the sheriff's office, said detectives have kept the Grasso family informed and continue to investigate the crash.

"We understand they're frustrated. They want to see justice in this case. So do we," Keith said. "There has not been a lot of progress on this case because, frankly, we don't have enough evidence to charge the driver of this crash with the charge we'd like to charge her with, which is intoxication assault."

Keith said detectives lack the evidence needed to make that charge stick because the driver refused a blood draw. By the time investigators got a warrant for her blood, several hours had passed, diluting any alcohol that may have been in the driver's system.

"This child had alcohol in her system. That's enough to charge her with a DUI or DWI. That's the case, but it's not the standard for intoxication assault," Keith said. "Our investigators have contacted this family. Our supervisors have talked to this family. They don't want to hear the truth and the truth is there's not enough evidence, at this time, to get a conviction on this driver for intoxication assault. There's no winner in this situation, and we want more than anyone to solve this, resolve it, and bring closure to this family, but we're not at that point."

While they wait for their case to move forward, Peyton and her mom worry what kind of message is being sent to the driver and the rest of Bexar County.

"I want to put this all behind me and it's hard to move forward with this when there's this all still going on and no one's doing anything," Peyton Grasso said. "They have billboards, 'Drink, drive, go to jail.' She drank, she drove, she almost killed me. Where's the justice?"

"When the driver admits at the scene that she was drinking, when the BAC (blood alcohol content) comes back that she had alcohol in her system and was over the limit and when you're under 21, any amount, any detectable amount, is grounds for an arrest," Julia Grasso said. "She needs to learn a lesson. There needs to be consequences."