After fatal wreck in Lexington, community gathers to support family of teen victims
Lexington is a tight-knit community, people here say.
When five high school students were in a wreck Wednesday that killed one of them and left two others hospitalized, about 75 or 100 students, community members and family crowded hospital waiting rooms, according to Methodist pastor Terry Cook.
The next day, Cook’s church, the Lexington United Methodist Church, filled for a candlelight vigil Thursday night to pray for the victims, community members and first responders. Throughout an hour of silent prayer the attendees made their way to the front of the church where they offered hugs and support to the family of Desirae Holder, the 16-year-old who was killed in the crash.
It’s the first time since Cook came to Lexington seven years ago, he says, that tragedy like this has hit the town.
“Accidents, they’re just that, accidents,” Cook said.
Wednesday afternoon, just after school got out, 16-year-old Zander Smith and four other teens with him in a Jeep pulled out in front of a truck near U.S. 24 and 24th Street, right by the high school.
The truck hit the teens at highway speed. Holder was killed, another teen was flown to Children’s Mercy Hospital, and another was brought to Centerpoint Hospital before being transferred to Children’s Mercy. The three girls were not wearing their seat belts, according to the Missouri Highway Patrol.
Two boys in the car were brought to a local hospital and later released.
The driver of the truck, Cook said, was a Lexington resident whose family has been in the town for many years.
Cook was among the community members at the hospital Wednesday night.
“The kids were very, very shaken,” he said. “Youth today have no concept of death or mortality and I think that’s probably a good thing.”
“The thought that I picked up on was, ‘Well, sure that happens to others but it doesn’t happen to us.’”
‘Sweetest of the bunch’
Desirae Holder had only been living in Lexington for about six months, her mother, Crystal Holder, said.
Crystal had grown up in a small town and wanted her five children to have that same experience.
“I was nervous with bringing teenagers here, especially a high schooler’s sophomore year, but everyone’s taken them in,” she said.
Her daughter, she said, was the “light of (their) family.” She loved to sing, loved to do her makeup and had a love-hate relationship with her twin brother.
“She would sing anything,” Crystal said. “She loved everything, she loved singing Christmas carols with me.”
Shortly after the Holders moved to town, Desirae began spending time with Zander Smith, the teen who was driving, and his friends, Smith’s family said.
At the time of the crash, Zander and Desirae had been dating for about a month and a half, short enough that they were still in their “puppy love” phase, said Zander’s cousin, Alex Stigall.
The group of kids, Stigall said, came over to his house nearly every day after school.
“(Desirae) was by far the sweetest of the bunch,” Stigall said.
He said she was always happy and had a memorable smile.
“You could see how much (Zander) really liked her,” he said.
Tragedy has lasting impact
On Wednesday afternoon, Stigall said, the teens were driving to his grandmother’s house to pick up Zander’s car, which they’d finished getting ready for him that day.
Loretta Stigall, Zander’s great-grandmother, said Zander didn’t see the truck coming when he drove into the intersection.
The impact of the crash caused both cars to flip over and threw all three girls from the car, according to the Missouri Highway Patrol crash report. They hadn’t been wearing seat belts.
When Zander got out of the car he immediately started looking for Desirae, Loretta Stigall said. He found her under the car.
“He’s very upset about losing her,” Stigall said. “You blame yourself when something goes wrong.”
Crystal Holder said she’s grateful that the other teens survived and hopes they learn from it.
“I pray to God those kids never get in a car without a seat belt,” she said.
In a news release Thursday, the school district said it brought in additional counselors to serve students and staff.
“We are deeply saddened by the recent tragedy involving our students,” superintendent Sarrah Morgan said in a statement. “We are taking steps to ensure our students and staff receive the support they need.”
According to the highway patrol, the 16-year-old driver of the Jeep had an instructional permit, not a driver’s license, and violated Missouri law by driving without a licensed 21-year-old in the car.
“Being unlicensed is not going to necessarily be a reason to crash but it would suggest that ... you’re inexperienced,” said Sgt. Andy Bell, a spokesman for the patrol. “We have people that are 50 years old that are making the same kind of driving mistakes that a 16-year-old does.”
The crash remains under investigation, Bell said. The patrol has not formally released the names of the minors involved.
This story was originally published December 12, 2019 at 8:59 PM.
