Family receives nearly $4 million for accident involving driver who stopped in the middle of the highway

A family has been awarded nearly $4 million for the death of their 24-year-old son following an accident involving a truck driver who broke down in the middle of a Texas highway.

The accident occurred in September 2021, but the legal proceedings were not completed until July 2024.

Robert Buntyn, 24, was driving home from work at his family’s funeral home when he collided with the rear of a commercial truck after hitting something in the road on Interstate 635 near State Highway 121. Buntyn died as a result of the accident.

Lawyers for the Buntyn family say the truck driver, 23-year-old Desiree Boyd, who worked for the trucking company Newkirk Logistics, failed to alert motorists that she had stopped, did not use her hazard lights, flares or triangles, and did not pull over to the side of the road.

The jury found Buntyn 10% responsible for the accident and ruled that Newkirk Logistics and Boyd were responsible for the remaining 90% of the accident. The Boys family was awarded $3.6 million in damages. Attorneys for Boyd and Newkirk plan to appeal the verdict.

The Buntyn family says lawyers for Newkirk Logistics and Boyd forced them into a trial.

“We offered them six times to settle on their insurance policy – we were looking at the full $1 million. We didn’t want to take everyone to trial, and they decided not to settle,” Bryan Buntyn told WFAA. “The insurance company and their lawyers had the same evidence that we presented. They looked at the same things that we saw in court, and they still decided not to settle, which was unbelievable. And now they’re appealing.”

“It felt like a dare – they didn’t care if they were taken to court,” Buntyn said. “These companies shouldn’t be putting families through two to three years of litigation just to settle a case and get an accountability… It was never about the money – it was about someone being held accountable for what they did to them.”