‘Part of me died last night’: Friends mourn classmates killed in Blue Springs crash
Dozens of high school students from the Blue Springs School Districts gathered along a busy road Sunday afternoon to mourn three classmates killed the night before in a two-car crash.
Arriving in small groups, the teens huddled at the entrance to a residential neighborhood at Northwest Indian Hills Drive and Northwest Duncan Road in Blue Springs.
They built a makeshift memorial of flowers, balloons and stuffed animals at the scene where the crash had occurred. At one point, they dropped white rose petals.
“One of my closest friends was lost,” said Roderick Boyd. “We lost him and I had just seen him not less than an hour or two before that.”
Boyd was staying the night at that friend’s house and was waiting for him to return so they could hang out. He answered the door when the police officer showed to give the death notification.
“I was like bro, please don’t be here telling me that my friend had just passed away,” Boyd said.
Boyd felt compelled to go to the crash scene Sunday as a sign of strength not only for his friend’s family but for himself. He had bonded with his friend, each sharing their goals and life dreams.
“A real part of me died last night,” Boyd said.
Police on Sunday said the victims were all males. One was 15 years old and the two others were 16 years old. They attended high schools in Blue Springs. The cause of the crash is still under investigation.
Police were withholding the names of the crash victims until family could be notified.
News of the crash spread rapidly through the Blue Springs community by social media posts, gaming channels and texts.
Some say they didn’t believe it at first, thinking it was just a joke. Including those who had made plans with the victims.
“When stuff like this happens, we always would say like, ‘What if that was one of us?’” Cashius Howell said. “Now it’s three of us.”
At the crash scene Sunday, the classmates talked about the memories of their fallen friends. All three liked sports — one was a wrestler, another a basketball player and the third a football player.
Gabby Epps, who was friends with all three crash victims, described them as outgoing and very fun to be around.
Bekr Salti, who lives near the crash scene, said he was sitting in his living room when he heard a loud crash.
“It sounded like someone hit a brick wall,” he said. “I’ve never heard a crash so loud.”
He ran outside and saw that one of his neighbors who had been turning into the neighborhood had been involved in a crash. After checking on her and making sure she was not seriously hurt, he called 911 and said his neighbor had been in a crash.
Salti recalled that it was about then when he started realizing that the crash was much worse than he initially told dispatchers. Crash victims had been ejected from the second car. One person was lying in the street and another on the side of the road.
“Their car was just mangled,” Salti said. “It just looked like metal wires basically. It was flattened upside a tree in my backyard.”
Salti called 911 back telling dispatchers he thought there might be fatalities or people who needed serious help.
“It’s terrible,” Salti said. “These kids just got out of school.”
A balloon release is planned for the victims at 5 p.m. Monday, Dec. 24, on the soccer field behind the Blue Springs School District Freshman Center located at 2103 Northwest Vesper St.
This story was originally published December 23, 2018 at 4:48 PM.
