Four teens at slumber party die while pushing mom’s stalled SUV outside the sleepover

A slumber party became a nightmare for four families and two Indiana high school communities Saturday night when four teenagers died in a car crash about a block away from the sleepover.

Cara Selby, who was throwing a slumber party for her daughter’s birthday in Cortland, broke down in her Chevrolet Suburban not far from the house on State Route 258 around 11 p.m., reported WTHR in Indianapolis.

Several of the teens came out of the party to help push the Suburban onto the side of the road when a Chevrolet Traverse came up from behind and crashed into them.

Three of the teens died at the crash site - 14-year-olds Nevaeh Law and Jenna Helton, and Brittany Watson, 15, reported Fox 59 in Indianapolis.

A fourth teen, Martin Martinez, 16, died as he was flown to Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis, Fox 59 reported.

His mom was in Florida when she was told he was dead, according to The Seymour Tribune.

The Tribune reported that five other girls were also injured in the crash.

The driver of the Chevrolet Traverse that slammed into the stalled Suburban, Elizabeth Watson, was not injured and has not been cited, the newspaper reported.

The victims attended two area high schools - Seymour and Brownstown Central - where principals planned to have grief counselors, local youth ministers and extra staff available to students on Monday, according to local media reports.

“There are many family members, friends, and students, not only at SHS, but at area schools and communities, who are grieving,” Seymour High principal Greg Prange said in a statement reported by WTHR. “We pray for peace, comfort, and understanding as we all go through this together.”

But the mourning began within hours of the crash as the news hit social media.

A crowd of mourners gathered in the parking lot of Seymour High School Sunday evening where they hugged, wept, lit candles and released balloons into the summer sky, according to media reports.

A fundraising effort popped up on Facebook where decals and T-shirts designed by local students are being sold to help the families with their funeral expenses.

The T-shirts read: “Your wings were ready, our hearts were not.”

Jackson County Sheriff Mike Carothers told the newspaper that in 30 years of law enforcement work he’d never handled a case like this and that the scene was tough on the first responders. “I’m really saddened by this,” he told the Tribune.

Friends and parents of the victims are being flooded with messages of sympathy on Facebook, where Nevaeh’s mother, Torre Collins, posted photos of her daughter.

Collins was at the Sunday night vigil in the high school parking lot where she encouraged parents to hold tight to their children, for time is fleeting.

“Mine walked out the door (Saturday) and will never be coming home to me,” she said, according to the Tribune.

Nevaeh would have turned 15 on September 5, her obituary says.