Thom, Majlinda Preka, Personal Rep., et al. v Remington, Nicholas Maxmillian, et al.

Case Background

On March 17, 2020, Majlinda Preka Thom, and James Thom filed a wrongful death lawsuit for the death of their son Denis Preka in the Circuit Court for Wayne County, Michigan. They alleged that their son died due to an overdose after his friends gave him MDMA as a prank. Judge Susan J. Hubbard presided over this case. [Case number: 20-004100-NO]

Cause

On March 18, 2019, Denis Preka, a 21-year-old college student at the University of Detroit Mercy, studied for an exam at the home of Paul Robert Wiedmaier. During this time, Preka reportedly asked Wiedmaier for Adderall or Ritalin to enhance his focus. However, Wiedmaier did not have either medication. Later, two other students, Nicholas Maxmillian Remington, and Connor Raymond Gibaratz, arrived and allegedly offered Preka a substance they claimed was Adderall or Ritalin. Unbeknownst to Preka, this substance was actually MDMA, commonly known as 'Molly.' After he ingested the drug, Preka became incapacitated and unresponsive. Despite his condition, Remington, Wiedmaier, and Gibaratz reportedly failed to call for medical help. Instead, they chose to videotape Preka as his health declined and posted it on Snapchat. The videos posted on Snapchat clearly showed Denis in extreme distress and losing control of his faculties. The three co-conspirators not only humiliated him while h