Tishina Mendenhall v. Kyle Dean Kent

Let’s get straight to the part that will make your jaw drop: a man in Oklahoma is being sued for $150,000 after allegedly running over a woman in a pizza parking lot — not once, not twice, but allegedly after hitting her, he kept going and ran over her again — all at a Mazzio’s, of all places. This isn’t a scene from a dark comedy or a sketch on Saturday Night Live. No, this is real life, allegedly, in Tecumseh, Oklahoma, where a casual dinner out turned into a fatal tragedy that’s now headed straight to civil court.

Now, let’s talk about who we’re dealing with here. On one side, we have Tishina Mendenhall, who’s not suing as herself, but as the special administrator of the estate of Andrea Larney — meaning Andrea has passed away, and Tishina is now legally handling her affairs, including this lawsuit. Andrea, whose life ended in the most bizarre and brutal way possible, was just a regular person — someone’s friend, family member, neighbor — who, on November 2, 2024, decided to grab a slice (or maybe a calzone) at Mazzio’s on North Broadway Street. On the other side? Kyle Dean Kent, a Pottawatomie County resident with, as far as we know from the filing, no prior history of vehicular violence — but now accused of one of the most reckless acts imaginable in a parking lot full of families, teenagers, and probably someone trying to parallel park for the first time.

So what actually happened that evening? According to the petition filed by David L. Smith, Andrea Larney was in the Mazzio’s parking lot — location not specified, but presumably walking to or from her car, maybe juggling a to-go box and her keys — when Kyle Kent, behind the wheel of his vehicle, allegedly struck her. But here’s where it goes from “terrible accident” to “wait, what?!” — the filing claims Kent didn’t stop. He didn’t swerve. He didn’t panic-brake. Instead, he allegedly drove over her. And not just once — the implication, based on the phrasing and the gravity of the injuries, is that he ran over her body after the initial impact. Now, was this intentional? The petition doesn’t say “he did it on purpose.” But it does say he was “driving distracted” and that his actions were “reckless.” Those are not small words in a legal context. “Negligence” means you didn’t pay attention. “Recklessness” means you acted with a conscious disregard for the safety of others. That’s a big leap — and it’s the difference between “oops” and “what the actual heck were you thinking?”

Andrea suffered serious injuries — so severe, in fact, that she died as a result. The filing doesn’t go into gory details (thankfully), but the implication is clear: being hit and run over by a car in a parking lot is not something you walk away from. Especially if the driver doesn’t stop, doesn’t call 911, doesn’t even check. Instead, Kent allegedly just… kept driving. Whether he fled the scene or simply didn’t realize what he’d done (a claim that would be very hard to believe if surveillance footage shows otherwise), the outcome is the same: a woman is dead, and someone is being held legally responsible.

So why are they in court? Let’s break it down like we’re explaining it to your cousin at Thanksgiving. This isn’t a criminal case — at least, not yet. No one’s saying Kyle Kent has been charged with murder or even manslaughter. This is a civil lawsuit, which means the goal isn’t to put him in jail, but to make him pay — financially — for the harm he caused. The legal claim here is negligence, with a side of recklessness. In plain English: Andrea’s estate is saying, “You had a duty to drive safely. You failed that duty. Your failure directly caused Andrea’s death. Therefore, you owe us money.” But they’re also going further — they’re asking for punitive damages, which are not about covering medical bills or funeral costs. Punitive damages are about punishment. They’re the legal system’s way of saying, “What you did was so bad, we want to slap your wallet to make sure you — and others — never do it again.”

And that brings us to what they want: $150,000. Specifically, $75,000 in actual damages — for things like medical expenses, pain and suffering, and the financial impact of losing Andrea — and another $75,000 in punitive damages, if the jury feels Kent’s behavior was especially awful. Now, is $150,000 a lot? In the grand scheme of lawsuits, it’s not massive — you’ll see car accident cases settle for millions when kids are involved or when there’s clear evidence of intoxication. But for a single incident in a pizza joint parking lot? In rural Oklahoma? Yeah, that’s a serious number. It’s not chump change. It’s enough to buy a house, pay off student loans, or, you know, hire a really good lawyer. And the fact that they’re demanding a jury trial tells you they’re not messing around. They want twelve of Kent’s peers to look him in the eye and decide: Did you wreck a life over a parking spot?

Now, here’s our take — and remember, we’re entertainers, not lawyers, so take this with a grain of salt the size of a boulder. The most absurd part of this whole thing isn’t even the Mazzio’s setting (though let’s be real, that’s already giving us “Oklahoma’s Most Wanted” vibes). It’s the sheer banality of the location. This wasn’t a high-speed chase. This wasn’t a drunk driver on the highway. This was a parking lot. A place where people drive slower than their golf carts, where kids run around with coupon booklets, where the biggest drama is usually someone stealing your preferred spot near the door. And yet, in that same space, someone died. Allegedly. And allegedly, the driver didn’t even stop.

We’re also side-eyeing the “distracted” claim. Is that code for “on his phone”? Was he texting? Watching YouTube? Ordering a competing pizza from Domino’s while driving? We don’t know — but if that’s the case, it adds a whole new layer of infuriating stupidity to the story. And if it was intentional? If this was road rage over a parking spot? Then we’re not just talking about negligence. We’re talking about a full-blown pizza lot showdown gone horribly, tragically wrong.

Look, we don’t know all the facts. Maybe Kent had a medical emergency. Maybe there’s footage that changes everything. Maybe Andrea darted out unexpectedly. But based on what’s in the filing — and remember, these are allegations, not proven truths — this case is a grim reminder that the most ordinary places can become the sites of extraordinary tragedy. And when someone dies because another person wasn’t paying attention — or worse, didn’t care — the law steps in to say, “You don’t get to just drive away from that.”

We’re rooting for answers. We’re rooting for accountability. And honestly? We’re rooting for the universe to make sure no one ever fights over a Mazzio’s parking spot again. Because apparently, in Oklahoma, it might just be a capital offense.