The Associated Press
CBS NEWS
This Sunday, March 10, 2013 photo shows a Honda Passport that crashed into a guardrail and flipped over into a swampy pond Sunday morning in Warren, Ohio. Highway Patrol officials say speed was a factor in the violent early morning crash of the vehicle that killed six teenagers in northeast Ohio.
WARREN, Ohio -- Investigators are focusing on
speeding as a key factor in the crash of a sport utility vehicle
carrying eight teenagers in northeast Ohio that slammed into a guardrail
and flipped over into a swampy pond, killing five boys and the young
woman driving, the state highway patrol said.
The SUV had been taken without permission, authorities said.
The Honda Passport veered off the left side of a road and overturned
just south of the city of Warren, about 60 miles east of Cleveland, Lt.
Anne Ralston said. Investigators say it came to rest upside down in the
swamp and sank with five of the victims trapped inside. A sixth, who was
thrown from the SUV during the crash, was found under it when the
vehicle was taken out of the water.
The two boys who survived escaped from the submerged vehicle and ran a
quarter-mile to a home to call 911, the highway patrol said.
State Highway Patrol Lt. Brian Holt said at an evening news
conference that speed was a factor, although investigators were still
trying to determine the speed at the time of the accident.
"We will not be speculating on alcohol and/or drug usage pending toxicology reports," Holt said.
No one in the vehicle had permission to take it, but there were no
theft reports, Holt said. The vehicle was licensed to a resident of
Youngstown, about 20 miles away, he said.
After the news conference, the gates of an impound lot were opened to
show the wreck, with windows smashed and extensive damage to the front
end, hood and roof.
Ralston didn't know where the teens were headed when the crash
happened at about 7 a.m. and Holt said later it wasn't clear how long
they had been out.
"All I know is my baby is gone," said Derrick Ray, who came to the
crash site after viewing his 15-year-old son Daylan's body at the county
morgue. He said he knew that his son, a talented football player who
was looking forward to playing in high school, was out with friends, but
didn't know their plans.
A pile of blue, green and copper-red stuffed bears grew at a
makeshift memorial at the crash site along a two-lane road tightly
bordered with guardrails on either side in an industrial area. The sport
utility vehicle had sheared off tall cattails along the guardrail.
There were also notes at the memorial, including a letter from Daylan
Ray's 12-year-old half-sister, Mariah Bryant, who said she had learned
they were related only in the past year.
"It hurts, it really does, because they are so young and, like, they
could have had so much more to life," she said. "We just really started
getting close, and it's hard to believe he's gone."
Warren Fire Department Capt. Bill Monrean said a cold water rescue
team was deployed to the scene and got five teens out of the submerged
vehicle.
"Being a cold water rescue situation, cold water extends life,"
Monrean told AP Radio. "We knew we had a chance; even being in there a
while."
Two of the teens, both 15, were brought to a hospital in full cardiac
arrest, St. Joseph Health Center nursing supervisor Julie Gill said,
and were pronounced dead there. She said they were treated for
hypothermic drowning trauma, indicating they had been submerged in cold
water.
The two who survived, 18-year-old Brian Henry and 15-year-old Asher
Lewis, both of Warren, were treated for bruising and other injuries and
released, she said.
All those killed were ages 14 to 19, authorities said. State police
identified them as the 19-year-old driver Alexis Cayson; Andrique
Bennett, 14; Brandon Murray, 17; and Kirklan Behner, Ramone White and
Ray, all 15. The Highway Patrol said Cayson was the only female in the
vehicle.
Ashia Cayson said she learned of her sister's death Sunday morning, when she had just been thinking of her.
"She was loving. She was silly, and she was a clown," Ashia said, according to CBS Youngstown, Ohio affiliate WKBN.
"She liked to make everybody laugh even when we were sad. I just want
everybody to know that if you are going through something, pick up the
phone and call your siblings, your family and tell them you love them.
You never know what can happen.
"Tomorrow is not promised to anybody," Cayson said.
Rickie Bowling, 18, a friend of Behner, sobbed at the crash scene as she recalled his playfulness and reputation as a cut-up.
"He was one of a kind," she said. "Everyone knew him in the neighborhood. In school, he always made everyone laugh."
Bowling said the tragedy highlighted the importance of savoring life.
"Basically, enjoy every second in life," she said. "Enjoy life while
you've got it and while you're here and enjoy people that you love."
She said she would rely on her faith in the difficult days ahead.
"The only way to look at it is on the bright side: He's in a better
place," she said.
Jasmine McClintock, 22, a friend of a victim, visited the crash scene
and said it should serve as a warning for parents to be aware of their
children's activities.
"I hope it's an eye-opener for parents," she said while watching the
slow ripple of the pond water littered with debris, some apparently from
the crash.
McClintock said she was troubled by the question of what the victims
were doing out at that hour, not knowing if they had been out all night
or left home early.
"That's the part that boggles my mind. It's like on a Sunday if
you're not going to church, what are you doing at 7 a.m. out driving?"
she asked.
Officials opened a school where several of the victims attended to
provide counseling for families Sunday night. Warren Superintendent
Michael Notar called the crowded closed-door session heartbreaking and
said counselors would be available Monday in schools.
"We all know everybody is emotional and grieving in different ways,
and we just want an opportunity at least to have our doors open for
people to know that we do care as a school district, as a community, and
hopefully alleviate some of that pain they may be feeling," said Notar.
Cheryl Moore, 54, whose nephew is a classmate of some of the victims,
emerged from the counseling session and said it was helpful. "I just
feel we have to come to grips with what happened today," she said.
All eight were from Warren. It's not believed that any of them were closely related, the highway patrol said.
Near the Pennsylvania state line, Warren is a mostly blue-collar city
that was hit by the decline of U.S. steel mills; it has more than
41,000 residents in the industrial Mahoning Valley region.