Teen's drunk driving death won't be forgotten

SANDUSKY — Alli Jo Kurdinat, 15, loved to sing. Her mom thought Alli Jo had a good voice, but the teen was shy about singing in front of others. So, late at night, about 11 p.m., "she would go into the bathroom and sing her heart out," said her mother, Heather Armstrong. Alli Jo played saxophone for the Norwalk High School marching band. She liked to play video games. She enjoyed cooking — she made a good meatloaf — and she'd been accepted into the culinary program at EHOVE. She dreamed of becoming a chef who worked on the West Coast. And she had gotten a job at Vargo's Drive-In and was proud to be making money for herself. "She was coming into her own," said Veronica Stanley-Kurdinat, her stepmother. On May 21, 2021, she was on her way to work, in a 2020 Hyundai Santa Fe driven by Stanley-Kurdinat. They were westbound on Mason Road in Milan Township, between Ohio 13 and Old Mason Road. Coming to a curve in the road at 3:46 p.m., they had little warning when a 2020 GMC Sierra driven by Nicholas Barylski, 49, Huron, who had been drinking much of the day at a Huron bar, went left of center and smashed into their car. A lawsuit claims the Sierra was going faster than 70 miles per hour. Tests later showed Barylski had a blood alcohol content of .204, twice over the legal limit. Alli Jo died in the wreckage before rescuers could free her. Stanley-Kurdinat survived despite broken bones, ruptured organs and spinal vertebrae fractures. She spent 30 days on a hospital ventilator, unable to talk. Barylski, who wasn't wearing a safety belt, died after being ejected from the vehicle. Troopers found Alli Jo and Stanley-Kurdinat both were wearing seat belts when the accident occurred. Don't forget Alli Jo As they struggle to recover, Alli Jo's relatives are trying to use the tragedy to educate the public about drunken driving and to make sure Alli Jo isn't forgotten. They hope her death will remind people not to get behind the wheel when they are drunk. The accident also has spawned a lawsuit against a local bar and bartender. "She was an absolutely wonderful person. She was my best friend," said Armstrong, who misses cooking meals with her daughter. "There's a few meals I can't cook because of her not being here," Armstrong said. "I have not been able to make her meatloaf yet." "She had a heart of gold. She was giving. She was caring. She was loving. She was funny. She was a great person. She didn't deserve this," Stanley-Kurdinat said. Their pain has inspired a sustained public education campaign. Billboards have been put up in Erie County to tell people about her. Alli Jo's mother, Heather Armstrong, and Stanley-Kurdinat, often speak to the local classes that people convicted of drunken driving are required to take. "Everyone's life is important. You are putting everyone's life in danger, including your own. Call a cab, call an Uber, call a friend," Stanley-Kurdinat said. The family has found allies among local state troopers and law enforcement officers, who often find themselves at the scene of local crashes. The highway patrol, the Huron County Sheriff's Office and the Norwalk Police Department joined forces to conduct an OVI checkpoint the evening of Sept. 9 on U.S. 250 in Alli Jo Kurdinat's memory. Officers made contact with 814 drivers and found none were impaired. Armstrong spoke to the officers taking part in the effort. "I was so happy they reached out to me and wanted to do that in honor of my daughter," Armstrong said. The crash also was a terrible tragedy for the Barylski family. Nicholas Barylski was born in Sandusky and was a 1989 Edison High School graduate. He left behind a wife, Theresa, who had been with him for 21 years, and two children. An obituary noted that Nick Barylski would show up to watch his son play hockey and watch his daughter play golf. He was outgoing and loved to hunt and fish. The obituary portrait showed him holding up two huge fish that he'd caught, one in each hand. The billboard campaign Two billboards have been put up in the Sandusky area that show photos of Alli Jo and remind people not to drive drunk. One is on U.S. 250, while the other, formerly on Cleveland Road west of Huron, has been moved to Ohio 2. The billboards are a project of Alli Jo's father, Jack Kurdinat, his wife Stanley-Kurdinat and other members of the family. Jack Kurdinat's sister, Norwalk corrections officer Sarah Reed, designed the billboards. Reed is not a professional artist but enjoys art and design, Stanley-Kurdinat said. The billboards went up in May, around the anniversary of the fatal crash, and will be replaced next May with new billboards aimed at reinforcing the message. As she works to get her message out, Stanley-Kurdinat walks with a cane and is trying to recover from her injuries. "I'm hanging in there. I will never work again," she said. "I'm still in therapy and still have a lot of medical issues. I still have surgeries to come. But the worst pain of it all was losing Alli Jo." A lawsuit over the crash The May 2021 crash resulted in a lawsuit, filed in May this year in Erie County. Armstrong, Stanley-Kurdinat and Jack Kurdinat, all Norwalk residents, filed suit against the Knucklehead Saloon, 2012 Cleveland Road West in Huron, and against bartender Tricia Harness of Bellevue. The lawsuit alleges that Harness and the Knucklehead failed to cut off supplying alcoholic beverages to a clearly intoxicated Barylski. The suit says Barylski drank alcohol at the Knucklehead on May 21 before going golfing. He returned at 1:30 p.m. and continued drinking, it says, citing a video taken at the bar that shows Harness serving Barylski. The video shows Barylski stayed for 91 minutes, imbibing three 12-ounce beers and five double shots of liquor, the equivalent of 13 alcoholic beverages. An "obviously intoxicated" Barylski then left and died shortly afterward in the accident, the suit says. The lawsuit says the defendants engaged in "misconduct" by continuing to serve alcohol to Barylski, knowing he would drive away. Court records show the lawsuit initially was assigned to Judge Roger Binette and then was transferred to Judge Tygh Tone. The records show the suit has not yet been resolved by a settlement or a jury trial. Sandusky attorney Kyle R. Wright, who filed the lawsuit, declined comment on the progress of the case. "It's not appropriate for me to comment on the case at this point," he said. A mother's therapy Armstrong says her public education efforts have given her a sense of purpose as she deals with her grief. She's scheduled to speak in a few days at a highway patrol academy in Columbus and is working on a scholarship program in Alli Jo's name. "I feel it's been very therapeutic for me. I know that my daughter would want me to do this. I feel it in my gut," said Armstrong, who has taken grief classes and is trying to get through the holidays. Alli Jo loved the musical "Hamilton," although she never got to see it live. Armstrong went to a performance with her sister. "We went and saw Hamilton for her," she said. Armstrong hopes the efforts of Alli Jo's family might prevent future accidents. "I hope that someone can learn from my story and I can save lives," she said. "I will talk to anybody who wants to talk … if I can talk one person into changing and not getting in that car, that would mean the world to me."