photo by: Theatre Lawrence

Louise ImMasche as Hedwig in "Hedwig and the Angry Inch."

A local actor’s death in a head-on collision last year was caused by a driver who was texting, speeding and under the influence of drugs or alcohol, according to a lawsuit filed in Douglas County District Court by the actor’s husband.

Zachary Grant, the husband of actor Louise ImMasche, is suing the driver, Eliseo J. Munoz Jr., and the driver’s father, Eliseo M. Munoz Sr., for multiple counts of negligence and is seeking a jury award in excess of $75,000 for wrongful death. The suit alleges that Munoz Jr., in addition to being on his cellphone, being impaired and driving too fast, engaged in numerous other traffic violations that, together, caused the death of ImMasche, who “suffered serious injury, substantial pain, terror, suffering and agony” before dying on the highway.

The father of the driver, Munoz Sr., is included as a defendant because the plaintiff alleges that he owned the vehicle involved in his son’s wreck, entrusted it to his son knowing that his son had a history of reckless and impaired driving, was under the influence the night of the fatal wreck, was not permitted to drive on the highway and was not permitted to drive a vehicle without an ignition interlock device due to previous DUIs.

In his response to the lawsuit, Munoz Jr. either denied the lawsuit’s allegations, said he did not have enough information to answer or asserted his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. Munoz Sr. likewise largely either denied the allegations or said he lacked information.

The first case management conference in the lawsuit occurred Friday afternoon in the courtroom of Judge James McCabria. Multiple attorneys for all parties, appearing via Zoom, discussed discovery deadlines. One attorney mentioned that the plaintiff also anticipated requesting punitive damages. The case is expected to last well into next year, barring a settlement. A trial date was set Friday for the week of Sept. 20, 2027.

The 41-year-old ImMasche, who is listed as Michael Dieker in the lawsuit but who went by ImMasche and used they/them pronouns, was killed the night of Oct. 24, 2025, after a performance of “The Rocky Horror Show” at Theatre Lawrence. Their car was hit head-on at the 384-mile marker on U.S. Highway 40, also known as the South Lawrence Trafficway or Kansas Highway 10, between West 27th Street and Iowa Street. The crash occurred shortly before 10:30 p.m., when Munoz Jr., going westbound in a 2008 Chevrolet Tahoe, crossed the center line and collided with ImMasche’s 2019 Kia Forte, according to the Kansas Highway Patrol.

Munoz Jr. was charged months later with reckless second-degree murder, circumvention of an interlock device, reckless driving and driving while suspended, as the Journal-World has reported. Judge Stacey Donovan completely sealed the arrest affidavit in the criminal case after Munoz’s defense attorney, Michael Clarke, argued that its contents would unduly prejudice potential jurors, given that it apparently includes alleged admissions by his client as well as toxicology results and how fast he may have been driving.

Munoz Jr. was also belatedly charged with an unrelated third DUI just three days after ImMasche’s death. That charge stemmed from an incident the year before — on March 7, 2024 — in which Munoz Jr. was reportedly driving with three times the legal limit of alcohol in his bloodstream. Douglas County District Attorney Dakota Loomis told the Journal-World that the failure of the previous DA’s office to charge that offense had proven to be a “fatal mistake.”

After the fatal crash Munoz Jr. was taken to Overland Park Regional Medical Center with suspected serious injuries. He was not wearing a seat belt, according to KHP.

Court records indicate Munoz Jr. had multiple run-ins with the law as a juvenile in Douglas and Reno counties, including arrests for underage possession of alcohol and marijuana possession, as well as criminal trespass, interference with law enforcement, battery on a law enforcement officer, disorderly conduct, possession of narcotics and drug paraphernalia and attempted possession of stolen property.

Most of the juvenile offenses were “nonadjudicated” or dismissed. But two counts of interference were adjudicated via plea, as were a drug paraphernalia charge and conspiracy possession of stolen property. Other offenses related to drug, alcohol and paraphernalia possession and attempted possession of stolen property are listed as having ended in “other termination.”

Munoz Jr., 24, is being held on a bond of $750,000 in the murder case and $7,500 in the DUI case. Prosecutor David Melton told a judge in February that Munoz posed “an extreme risk to the public” if he were to be released.

ImMasche was a well-known actor in area theatrical productions, including numerous shows at Theatre Lawrence, such as “Little Shop of Horrors,” “Priscilla, Queen of the Desert,” “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” and “The Rocky Horror Show.” Though they lived in Kansas City at the time of their death, they had previously resided in Lawrence for many years. ImMasche also wrote two musicals, “Femme Assassin Guy” and “Run.”