A car crash, and a trail of broken lives

Now a jury of six would decide if the O’Briens, the parents who hosted the backyard barbecue, should pay for the fatal crash.

If the jury found them at fault they could lose everything they’d worked so hard to build.

And a verdict against the O’Briens would send the signal that you’re not only responsible for your own kids but their friends too.

Among the jurors they were the foreman, a general contractor, a retiree, a nursing student... 

After several days of testimony, they were finally allowed to compare notes about the trial. 

Denny, juror: It was a real tough case. Let me tell you, I went back and forth in this trial. I would go from one to the other.

The key question they had to answer was did the O’Brien’s do “enough” to prevent that tragedy by stopping the underage drinking at their home that night.  

Denny: I wanted them so much to take some responsibility for what happened, I really did. I think they made a lot of mistakes.

The jurors could understand what Barbara O’Brien did the first time she caught one of the teenagers drinking... dumping the gin, lecturing the kids. But they wondered why she didn’t crack down harder when she found even more alcohol later that evening. 

Sandy, juror: By the second or third time she probably should have called the party off.

Dennis Murphy, Dateline correspondent: The lawyer for the stones would say, “Kids aren’t paying any attention. This isn’t a reasonable action. This is a failed action.” Was it the right do you think?

Sandy: To a degree. They wanted their child to be popular.

Murphy: And not embarrass her by calling the parents?

Sandy:Right and they paid a price for it.  

Murphy: What do you think she should have done at that point?

Jennifer: Probably start calling parents. Say, “Come get your kid cause this party is not going as I planned.”

Murphy: Call parents, take keys?

Denny: I probably would have wanted a phone call. There’s a million things they could have done.

And the jurors were troubled by one thing she did do after discovering the first teenager drinking.

Instead of keeping a closer watch on the party she had a glass of wine with a friend.

Jennifer, juror: If the kids were already drinking and then you come over with a friend and start drinking yourself, it’s a negative message.

And the jurors did believe that the O’Briens were the last chance to stop Stephen Bromstrup from getting into his Firebird that night. 

Murphy: Can you say had the O’Briens called the parents, pulled the car keys that those two little girls would be alive? The accident wouldn’t have happened?

Denny: Probably so.

The trial, according to the jurors, would change how they would act even in their own personal lives.

Sandy: If it was me, I wouldn’t have any parties because I would be terrified to have kids in my house if they didn’t belong to me. I have children and nieces and nephews so I know what they’re capable of.

The law stated broadly that if the O’Brien’s took reasonable steps to stop the underage drinking at their house, that was enough.      

Denny: You know the term “reasonable.” I mean really what is reasonable?

After almost three hours of deliberating that very question, the reading of the verdict was at hand.

The O’Brien’s were cleared of any charges. They would not pay for the death of Tim and Beth Stone’s daughter, Sarah.

Denny: Had that statue been written differently we very well could have found differently in this case. We felt they took reasonable steps.

But even though the jury didn’t rule for them, the Stones insist it was never money they were looking: it was for the apology they say that never came.

Beth Stone: They continued to say that they would have done nothing differently.

Tim Stone: They never accepted responsibility. They refused to be held accountable.

After Sarah died the Stones divorced. The Quaronis also separated.

It was as though the grief from the two girls’ sudden, violent deaths also shattered both families. 

Marcella: There will never be closure. Never. And people say, “It gets better with time.” It gets worse.  It just gets worse.

Tim Stone still tends to the the site where his daughter Sarah died.

Suzy Bromstrup says she, too, thinks of Sarah and Alexandra every day, often visiting the site where they’re memorialized.

Suzy Bromstrup: I just hope that they are in a better place and I am so sorry that we were part of what happened to them. 

And all the remorseful “if onlys” and “Why didn’t Is?” are only echoes in Stuart, Florida homes that can never alter the awful intersection of lives.

Since the accident that took their daughter’s life, Tim and Beth Stone have become activists, speaking to teens about the dangers of drunk driving. They’re also behind an effort to get families to sign something they call a “driving contract,” in which a teen promises never to drive drunk or ride with a driver under the influence of alcohol. Click here to visit their Web site.

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