The parents of two college students killed in a late-night Tesla Cybertruck crash in Piedmont, California, have filed wrongful-death lawsuits alleging the pickup’s electronic door system failed after impact, trapping their children as the vehicle burned and filled with smoke. Court filings in Alameda County detail claims that 19-year-old Krysta Michelle Tsukahara and 20-year-old Jack Nelson survived the initial collision on November 27, 2024, but could not escape because the Cybertruck’s power-dependent interior door buttons stopped working and the manual mechanical overrides were too obscure to find amid darkness, smoke and panic. A third passenger, 19-year-old driver Soren Dixon, also died at the scene; a fourth occupant was pulled from the truck by a friend following behind. Tesla has not commented on the lawsuits.
According to the complaints and corroborating local reports, the Cybertruck struck a retaining wall and a tree just after 3 a.m. in the Oakland suburb before catching fire. Tsukahara, a Savannah College of Art and Design student home for Thanksgiving break, and Nelson, a former Piedmont High School classmate, were riding in the rear seat. Both families argue the truck’s door design—relying on electronic releases with concealed mechanical backups—left their children without an accessible escape path when the low-voltage system failed after impact. Each suit also names Dixon’s estate and the truck’s owner as defendants.
An amended complaint filed by Tsukahara’s parents asserts she “survived the collision with no life-threatening injuries but couldn’t get out after the Cybertruck caught fire due to the vehicle’s complex electronic door mechanisms.” Her father, Carl Tsukahara, said in a statement released through family counsel: “Krysta was a bright, kind, and accomplished young woman with her whole life ahead of her… This company is worth a trillion dollars—how can you release a machine that’s not safe in so many ways?” Family attorney Roger Dreyer called the case “about truth and accountability,” alleging “there was no functioning, accessible manual override or emergency release for her to escape.” The complaint says she died of smoke inhalation and thermal injuries.
Nelson’s family filed a parallel action that likewise centers on alleged door failures in the seconds after the crash. Their suit contends that “due to electronic failures, Nelson was unable to exit the truck,” arguing the Cybertruck “lacked external mechanical handles” and that the interior mechanical release was too difficult to locate in the chaos. People magazine, which reviewed the filings, reported the family’s assertion that Nelson’s death was caused by smoke inhalation and burns rather than blunt-force trauma.