In a new lawsuit, Noah Presgrove’s family is claiming he was beaten to death by friends shortly before his naked body was found by the highway
Noah sustained fatal blunt force injuries, though it’s still not clear how; he was also drunk
“I don’t think anyone expects their 19-year-old to ever go to a party and die,” the family’s attorney says
In an explosive new lawsuit filed two years after his death, Noah Presgrove’s family is claiming that he was beaten to death by some of his friends during a party weekend shortly before the 19-year-old’s naked body was found on the side of the highway in Oklahoma.

The allegation, made in a wrongful death suit filed on Monday, June 23, goes far beyond any determination by law enforcement — state police have said they don’t believe Noah was murdered, but haven’t commented on what led to his death on Sept. 4, 2023 — and is the most direct claim yet about who could be responsible.

The suit seeks at least $75,000 in damages; it does not provide evidence to support its accusations. The attorney representing Noah’s family insists they have more information than they can share at this stage, though.

Oklahoma state police say they continue to investigate but declined to provide an update in light of the new suit.

No one has been arrested or charged in the case, which has stoked widespread discussion on social media, and those named in the complaint deny wrongdoing.

The teen’s body was found on the side of the road hours after he disappeared from a multi-day party with friends for Labor Day, PEOPLE previously reported.

Noah had sustained fatal blunt force injuries — on his skull, on his spine — though it’s still not clear how. He was also drunk, according to his autopsy.

His undamaged clothes were found not far from his body.

The new suit accuses seven defendants as well as numerous other unnamed individuals and a convenience store that, the suit claims, provided alcohol for the party, some of whom were underage.

“[Noah]’s death was not caused by being hit by a motor vehicle. … [He] was beat to death by one or more of the Defendants,” the suit alleges, going on to claim that “two or more Defendants engaged in a civil conspiracy to beat [Noah].”

“Either intentionally or accidentally, the Defendants killed Decedent,” the suit argues.

The defendants include Avery Jo Howard, Carter Combs, Jack Newton, Caleb Newton, Johnnie Trout Wilcoxson Jr., Stevie Howard and Logan Jernigan, as well as Val Petrol, the convenience store operator.

Avery, Carter and Logan threw the party Noah attended on Johnnie’s property, in a home owned by Stevie, according to the suit.

Jack Newton, Noah’s best friend, was also at the party, he has told PEOPLE. The suit alleges he bought alcohol for Noah while underage.

Caleb, Jack’s father, is also accused of providing an all-terrain vehicle that Noah rode on — and wrecked — during the party, which Caleb denies.

“I haven’t been able to find one thing in the lawsuit that has any truth to it,” he tells PEOPLE. “I don’t know where this information is coming from.”

“Everybody … is all saying, ‘Finally progress. Finally progress,’ “ says Caleb, 41, adding: “It’s a huge waste of everybody’s time and emotions.”

Caleb also disputed the allegation that Jack provided alcohol for Noah at the party.

“I have no doubt that he [Jack] got his hands on his beer. I mean, I asked him, I said, ‘Son, who bought the alcohol for this party?’ And he said, ‘It’s just like every other time that I got together with any of my friends: Everybody brought what they wanted to drink, brought their own stuff,’ “ Caleb says. “Nobody supplied for the whole deal or anything goofy like that.”

Jack did not respond to a request for comment through his father.

The accusation of widespread drinking is central to the suit’s claims of a “conspiracy” to get Noah and other underage attendees drunk even though they “owed a specific duty of care … and failed to prevent harm” to him, including by allowing dangerous, illegal conduct on the property.

“The adults there and the kids shouldn’t have allowed it to get to any position where Noah was ever going to be at risk of dying,” says attorney Austin Vance, who filed the suit on behalf of Noah’s family and estate. “I don’t think anyone expects their 19-year-old to ever go to a party and die.”
Vance, executive director at the law firm All Rise!, says “it seems clear to me that somebody laid hands on Noah and that caused his death.”

Efforts to reach the other defendants in the suit for comment were not successful, but attorney Andrew Benedict, representing the extended Wilcoxson family, including Avery Jo Howard, told PEOPLE in a statement last year that they were mourning “the tragic death of Noah Presgrove.”

“The Wilcoxson family has coordinated and cooperated with the investigating law enforcement agencies completely and intends to continue such cooperation until the investigation is concluded,” Benedict said then.

He did not comment to PEOPLE this week on the new suit.

Representatives for the convenience store that is also named as a defendant did not respond to a request for comment. Court records show none of the defendants have filed responses to the complaint.

Dailen Presgrove, Noah’s big brother, tells PEOPLE the family’s suit is not about money.

“The defendants, it’s their opportunity to defend themselves and prove their innocence,” he says.

“The way I’ve looked at it is that this is kind of the final point,” he continues. “We’ve exhausted every avenue, we’ve done everything that we can, and so this is really the last big Hail Mary to seek that retribution, seek that truth so that we can put everything to bed.”

Dailen, 25, also notes that, as a new father himself, he soon intends to withdraw from the legal proceedings — “it was just a lot of stress and a lot of attention that we just didn’t want.”

Caleb Newton is taking another view. He describes himself as “disappointed” at the complaint.

“We’re all just sitting on our hands hoping for the next piece of information or for anything to happen. And a civil lawsuit … is the opposite of progression,” he says.