‘I don’t know how I will smile again’: Loved ones say goodbye to 3 Blue Springs teens

Fifteen-year-old Nicholas Fordham was always up for a party. On Christmas Eve, his mother said he was making sure his friends and family gathered for one more.

“He was smiling all the time,” said his mother, Sheila Handley. “He was the one everyone wanted to be.”

Nicholas, Darrian Warmack and Kaylen Wright were killed Saturday night in a two-car crash at Northwest Indian Hills Drive and Northwest Duncan Road in Blue Springs.

Dozens of their loved ones gathered on a field at Blue Springs’ Freshman Center High School at dusk Monday. As the sun set, they released dozens of bright red and blue balloons in heart and star shapes. They shared hugs, over tears and laughter, and gazed at framed photo collages of the three teenagers, shining lights from their cellphones as the sky darkened.

Darrian’s girlfriend, Kristen Wheeler, wore a red sweatshirt with his photo and the dates of his birth and death.

“He made sure everyone was laughing,” Kristen said. “It’s hard to believe something like this could happen. But he will always be remembered.”

The cause of the car crash is still under investigation.

On her Facebook page, Handley said just her love for God got her out of bed that morning.

“I don’t know how I will ever smile again, I don’t know anything in this life except being a mom. How do I ever say ‘Nick was?’ ”

This story was originally published December 24, 2018 at 8:02 PM.