The family of Noah Presgrove, the 19-year-old whose body was discovered on the side of a highway in Oklahoma in 2023, is suing seven people, claiming he was the victim of a crime.
Noah was found early on September 4, 2023— unclothed, with some of his teeth scattered around his body and a fractured spine, among other injuries.
His lifeless body was discovered about a mile from a crowded house party he had attended with friends the night before.
Nearly two years later, little is known about what happened to the young man. His autopsy lists his cause of d*ath as blunt force trauma but does not specify how it occurred.
Noah Presgrove’s family is taking legal action almost two years after he was found lifeless on a highway following a house party
Image credits: Nae Jackson/Justice for Noah Presgrove
Seeking answers that they haven’t received from police, Noah’s family filed a $75,000 lawsuit on Monday (June 23), claiming the teen was brutally beaten and his body was left on the road.
His friends who attended the party, some of whom were named as defendants, maintain that they don’t know what happened to Noah.
“[Noah] was beaten to d*ath by one or more of the defendants,” reads the lawsuit obtained by The Daily Mail.
The family insisted his injuries were not “caused by being hit by a motor vehicle,” an early hypothesis now thought to be unlikely by investigators.
Image credits: Robyn Smith
The complaint named four of Noah’s close friends who were at the party, one of their fathers, the owners of the house, and a shop where they bought drinks for the party.
“Either intentionally or accidentally, the defendants k*lled [Noah],” the document states.
The lawsuit demanded at least $75,000 in damages for funeral expenses, pain and suffering, lost earnings, and companionship, as well as punitive damages.
It included “unidentified individuals” among the defendants to admit the possibility of other individuals being involved in the alleged crime.
Noah was found on the side of a highway in Oklahoma in September 2023 with a fractured skull and spine, and some of his teeth scattered around his body
Image credits: Robyn Smith
“Although the d*ath may have been unintended, hosting the party and beating of [Noah] was intentionally, malicious, and in reckless disregard of [his] rights.”
Jack Newton, Noah’s best friend, was accused of buying the drinks Noah consumed, which the complaint argued made him partly culpable.
He allegedly bought the drinks from Napoli’s convenience store in Marlow, Oklahoma, named as a defendant, as Jack was under the legal age to drink.
The family claims the 19-year-old was fatally beaten “by one or more of the defendants”
Image credits: Della Aker
The lawsuit also names Jack’s on-and-off girlfriend, Carter Combs.
Avery Jo Combs and Logan Jernigan, two girls who allegedly hosted the party with Carter, were accused of providing Noah with the drinks “even after he was already intoxicated.”
“The party was a civil conspiracy… to furnish alc*holic beverages to underaged and intoxicated individuals, such as [Noah], over the course of several days,” the lawsuit claimed.
Several aspects of the case remain unclear, and the lawsuit does not present any evidence that Noah was beaten
Image credits: Criminals Hate Me – True Crime Podcast
Caleb Newton, Jack’s father, was accused of allowing Noah to drive or ride on an ATV, which flipped and allegedly injured him, The Daily Mail reported.
However, the teen’s father insists that he was never at the house party and that the quad bike has, in the past, been referred to as belonging to Jack.
Avery and Carter’s mother, Stevie Howard, was named in the lawsuit because she owned a trailer adjacent to the house where the party took place. Johnnie Trout Wilcoxson was also named because he owned the property used for the party, though he was not present.
Among the defendants are four people who attended the party, including Noah’s best friend, Jack, and Jack’s girlfriend, Carter
Image credits: Noah Presgrove
The lawsuit claims that two of the defendants argued with Noah before he vanished.
“Toward the end of the party, defendants Jack Newton and Avery Howard were seen verbally fighting with [Noah],” it claimed.
Given how intoxicated he was, the 19-year-old was allegedly helped to shower by two partygoers after the ATV accident.
Afterward, he is believed to have argued with Avery—whom some friends allege he was sleeping with at the time—when she refused to let him sleep in her bed.
Noah’s older brother believes that “somebody knows something,” despite partygoers claiming they don’t know what happened to him
Image credits: Sherry Lee/Justice for Noah Presgrove
“She told him he couldn’t sleep in her bed because he messed with her friend the night before,” Jack claimed last year.
Upset by the argument, Noah allegedly wandered off into the night to clear his head and “cool off” at around 3.41 am, two hours before his body was found.
In a Facebook message, Jack shared that he and Noah had argued “about girls for a second” but reconciled shortly afterward, saying they “ended up holding each other crying, telling each other how much we meant to one another.”
Image credits: KSWO7News
Adding to the confusion of the case, there are conflicting accounts of how Jack found out that his best friend had lost his life.
The teen claimed he left early in the morning to go fishing with his father, Caleb. He said he called Caleb at 6:05 am, around 25 minutes after the body was discovered.
Jack told The Daily Mail that he didn’t find it suspicious that his friend had disappeared, saying, “I figured maybe he got a ride or something, Noah’s done that before – got mad and left.”
The lawsuit claims that the party was a “civil conspiracy” that involved selling drinks to minors
Image credits: Madison Rawlings
However, another partygoer, Kaden Pressy, claimed he was woken up at 5.15 am by Jack bursting through the door and saying, “Noah is d*ead” in a “frantic” tone and “tearing up.”
The lawsuit presented no evidence that Noah was fatally beaten, instead pointing to the nature of his injuries, which would rule out self-harm or a road accident.
Image credits: Deborah Smith/Justice for Noah Presgrove
Last year, Noah’s older brother, Dailen Presgrove, told People that “somebody knows something” about the case, even if “there’s still so much uncertainty.”
Before filing the lawsuit, the family reportedly launched their own campaign to get answers about the tragedy with the help of a private investigator.
Dailen said, “It doesn’t make sense that a good person like Noah is gone in such a cruel and unknown way.”
Image credits: KSWO7News
People have speculated about other possible causes of the tragedy that do not involve foul play, such as a dangerous game. One Reddit user wrote: “I have wondered if it was caused by something like ‘car surfing.’ (…) I could easily see being thrown from the back of a truck being a reasonable possibility.”
Along the same lines, another user suggested the incident could have been unintentional. “This sounds like an accident that happened while all involved were intoxicated and they are afraid to come forward about it—which isn’t hard to believe.”
“I came to the same conclusion. I think the best friend was dr*nk but worried about Noah, found him maybe passed out on the road, pulled him on a truck bed but Noah slid out headfirst with his shorts sliding off as he fell,” shared a third.
“May the truth be exposed so Noah receives the justice he deserves,” wrote one commenter
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