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‘A huge sense of relief’: Mom says driver responsible for son’s death indicted by Alabama grand jury

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — The mother of an Orange County teen killed in a wrong-way crash in Alabama last year says she and her family are one step closer to justice.

Jacklyn Stroz said she and her family have been waiting for charges to be brought against the alleged drunk driver, for months.

“We have been waiting a year, 5 months, and two days for news, to have some kind of justice for Mikey,” she said.

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Read: Friends, community rally after Timber Creek High School student dies in car crash

Mikey Stroz, his father and his sister were driving home from Alabama to Florida on June 19, 2021, when a pickup driven by Bryon Craig Mayo, 61, of Southside, slammed into their car.

Sixteen-year-old Mikey was killed; his father and sister were hospitalized with serious injuries.

At the time, troopers in Alabama reported the driver that hit the Stroz family was “under the influence of alcohol,” but no charges were filed.

Read: MADD to help raise funds after Timber Creek teen killed by possible drunk driver

Jacklyn was getting ready to head out of town for the holidays when she got the news she had been waiting for.

That a grand jury in Alabama had indicted the man responsible for her son’s death.

“To get that call today and to know that it’s happening was a huge sense of relief,” Stroz said.

Stroz said the district attorney in Alabama said that while the grand jury had handed down an indictment against Mayo, an arrest still hadn’t been made.

Read: State fines Orlando Free Fall operator $250K related to investigation into Tyre Sampson’s death

Troopers in Alabama could not provide Eyewitness News with information on the indictment or when an arrest would be made.

“The agony that we feel with all of this and not having our kid here again and going through another holiday without having Mikey it’s devastating,” she said.

Stroz said she knows an arrest could take some time and that she still has a long way to go before she has any sense of closure.

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Matt Reeser

Matt Reeser, WFTV.com

Matt Reeser joined WFTV in 1998 as a news photographer and has worked for television stations in Kentucky and West Virginia.

Shannon Butler

Shannon Butler, WFTV.com

Shannon joined the Eyewitness News team in 2013.