DURHAM, N.C. (Aug. 10, 2026) — Nationally renowned civil rights and personal injury attorney Ben Crump and attorney Kevin O’Brien of Stampone O’Brien Dilsheimer Holloway will file lawsuits against Lyft on behalf of Diamond Cannady and the family of Andre and Carla Boynton. They will discuss the filings at a news conference Tuesday in Durham.
Cannady, a Raleigh mother of five, says she ordered a Lyft home from work on March 31 and was instead driven to a secluded area and sexually assaulted by her driver, Ryan James Davey. According to arrest warrants filed by the Raleigh Police Department, Davey exposed himself, grabbed Cannady’s face and forcibly kissed her without her consent, and unlawfully restrained her. Officers who responded found an open container of alcohol in the vehicle. Davey faces charges including felony kidnapping, sexual battery, indecent exposure, driving while impaired, and resisting a public officer. Attorneys say Davey had a prior arrest record, including a 2015 DWI, before Lyft approved him to drive passengers.
Andre and Carla Boynton, a Durham couple, were killed Feb. 22 while riding in a Lyft in Detroit, where they had traveled for a religious event. Attorneys say Lyft promoted the event to its drivers and encouraged them to travel to Detroit to pick up fares. Their driver, Theopris Mays, reached speeds of more than 90 mph on residential streets posted at 25 mph before crashing into a warehouse loading dock, according to authorities, then fled on foot and was arrested by police. Mays faces two counts of second-degree murder, reckless driving causing death, and leaving the scene of an at-fault accident causing death. The Boyntons are survived by five children and were awaiting the birth of their first grandchild.
The filings will ask a court to hold Lyft responsible for the drivers it approved, dispatched, and put on the road.
WHO:
Boynton Family
Diamond Cannady and family
Attorney Ben Crump
Attorney Kevin O’Brien
Bishop Ronald Godbee, senior pastor
WHEN:
Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026, at 1 p.m. ET
WHERE:
The River Church
4425 Ben Franklin Blvd.
Durham, NC 27704
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MEDIA CONTACT:
[email protected]
ABOUT BEN CRUMP LAW
Through his work, nationally renowned civil rights and personal injury attorney Ben Crump has spearheaded a legal movement to better protect the rights of marginalized citizens. He has led landscape-changing civil rights cases and represented clients in a wide range of areas including civil rights, personal injury, labor and employment, class actions, and more. Ben Crump Law is dedicated to holding the powerful accountable. For more information, visit bencrump.com.
