A tragic accident killed six teens and injured two, in Warren, Ohio yesterday morning. A total of eight youngsters were stuffed in a Honda Passport made to seat five, when the vehicle careened out of control.
The SUV was being driven without permission, and was speeding down a two-lane road in northeastern Ohio just before 7 a.m. The truck veered to the left, hitting a guard rail, and flipping over into a pond, up to 5-feet-deep. Most of those inside were trapped, while one person was ejected. “With the vehicle upside down, [that much water] would have been enough to completely immerse the interior of the vehicle,” said Patrol Lt. Brian Holt, Monday.
Known as the deadliest traffic accident in the history of Trumbell County, Holt praised his team of divers for doing an “amazing job” in recovering the bodies. “I know that the end result was tragic, but you can’t ask for [a] better response. They got in the water immediately, and they did what they could do.”
Alexis Cayson, 19, was identified as the driver, and was the only female in the vehicle. “She was loving. She was silly, and she was a clown,” her sister, Ashia Cayson said. “She liked to make everybody laugh when we were sad.”
Regardless of the driver’s bad judgment in taking the car, the town is focused on healing the loss of the teen lives cut tragically short. “All I know is my baby is gone,” said Derrick Ray, whose 15-year-old son, Daylan was killed. Ray visited the crash site, after viewing his son’s body at a local morgue, and revealed that he knew the boy had plans to hang out with friends but didn’t know exactly what they were doing.
“It hurts, it really does, because they are so young and, like, they could have had so much more to life,” added Daylan’s 12-year-old-half-sister, Mariah Bryant, in a letter placed at the crash site, which has been turned into a memorial.
Bryant had just recently learned that Daylan was her brother and was building a relationship with him. “We just really started getting close, and it’s hard to believe he’s gone,” she said.
The other victims were Brandon Murray and Kirklan Behner, both 17, Ramone White, 15, and Andrique Bennett, who was only 14.
Survivors, Brian Henry, 18, and Asher Lewis, 15, climbed out of the submerged vehicle and ran a quarter-mile to a home, where they called 911.
The two teens were treated for minor injuries and bruises at the St. Joseph Health Center in Warren, before being released. Both Daylan and White were brought to the hospital in “full cardiac arrest,” where they were pronounced dead.
See photos below.
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Photos: Scott Galvin/ Tony Dejak/ AP
