A 17-year-old faces charges in the death of a Freedom High School student killed earlier this year while table surfing as part of a TikTok challenge, authorities announced Tuesday.
The teen was driving a vehicle while David Nagy, also 17, sat on an upside-down folding table that was tied to the vehicle, Northampton County District Attorney Stephen Baratta said Tuesday in a news release. The teen drove through the parking lot of the Bethlehem Township school while Nagy “rode” on the table, the DA said.
The driver recklessly operated the vehicle, and whipped Nagy, who was sitting on the table, into a parked vehicle, killing him, the release states. Nagy was among a group of five teenagers at the time of the incident.
The driver recently was charged with involuntary manslaughter in what authorities say was one of two similar cases inspired by TikTok challenges.
In a separate incident on March 18, a 19-year-old woman drove her vehicle while her friend, 20, stood on top of the trunk, the DA said. She was “surfing” on the back of the moving vehicle as it drove through the Park and Ride lot on William Penn Highway in Bethlehem Township.
The 20-year-old was thrown from the vehicle and suffered “catastrophic” head injuries that are likely permanent, according to authorities. In that case, the driver is charged with aggravated assault and aggravated assault by vehicle.
In both cases, prosecutors are not seeking prison time for those charged. The DA noted that the drivers in both cases did not intend to injure the victims, but that their actions were so “grossly negligent” that they constituted a criminally culpable state of mind.
Additionally, Baratta said both defendants were well-known to the victims’ families and had no previous criminal record. The DA said his office and the families are seeking accountability and hope the charges will be a deterrent to those who might mimic “dangerous” social media challenges that could injure others.
In an afternoon news conference, Baratta said prosecutors would pursue a non-prison sentence should the defendants admit culpability. They will also be able to have their records expunged, the DA said.
He said discussions with parents of the teens involved led to the announcement.
“Ultimately they have to deal with this loss and what it means,” Baratta said. “They didn’t want this loss to be for naught.”
He said that the 19-year-old’s name was not released because it was more important to get the word out about the “stunt challenges,” which Baratta said have “severe, real-world consequences.”
“It’s only a matter of time until other youth are similarly injured,” he said.
Baratta said these challenges, which can easily be found on social media, are dangerous. Social media companies, he said, should be morally obligated to not glorify the “stunts.”
The DA said the families of both victims struggled with the cases, adding that the defendants and victims were close friends. The parents, he said, had no idea their children would engage in that type of behavior.
Nagy was a junior at Freedom High School and wanted to attend Penn State for electrical engineering, according to his obituary. His family wrote that he was well-spoken and fiercely passionate, and used his voice to advocate for increased education funding.
He loved going to concerts and had a deep appreciation for music. He also enjoyed technology, movies, reading, amusement parks and trains, his obituary states.
