I was looking for the story cuz I only caught a glimpse of it today on the news... and put 2 an 2 together. The 15 yr old boy that died in the crash is one of my co-worker's brother. She took off in a hurry after a phone call on Saturday..something about a car accident...now it all makes sense! I can't believe this. This is all I found in the news...[V] Pretty sad.
Probe Continues in Crash That Killed 3
The Compton youths died of multiple traumatic injuries when their car, driven by a 13-year-old, was broadsided.
By Nancy Wride
Times Staff Writer
November 9, 2004
The three youths killed in a Compton joyriding crash died of multiple traumatic injuries, a Los Angeles County coroner's office spokesman said Monday as schools announced the news to their classmates.
"The principal called me this morning from Verbum Dei High School and told me they'd gathered in the chapel for a prayer for Derrius," said Donetta Johnson, whose 15-year-old son died in the crash.
Derrius Johnson had recently transferred from the Catholic school in Watts to Westchester High, which also announced his death over the public address system.
"It was nice that they remembered him," she said. "He was a sweetheart everyone liked."
Also killed in the crash were Clydnesha Lindsey, 12, and Ricky Ward, 13. All three victims were from Compton.
An investigation will continue this week into how the driver — a pajama-clad 13-year-old girl — was able to get her mother's car keys, and whether she had taken the four-door white Mazda on previous joyrides, as several friends reported.
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Sgt. Ralph Miller said Monday that a decision on whether to file criminal charges against the driver or her mother was not expected until late this week, when the results of the probe would be presented to the district attorney's office.
"The traffic investigator on the case is not in today," Miller said, "so nothing is likely to happen before Friday."
The collision occurred about 6:20 p.m. Saturday after several youths had gathered for a slumber party at one of their homes, said authorities, who reported that at least two of the victims were wearing pajamas.
The Mazda crossed over the center line of Alondra Boulevard, authorities said, and the passenger side was broadsided by a black SUV.
The driver of the Mazda, who was not named because she is a juvenile involved in a potential criminal case, suffered minor neck pain; two other passengers sustained a broken arm and a broken leg, Miller said.
The driver and a passenger in the SUV were not seriously injured.
Miller, who was among the deputies at the scene of the crash, said some of the youths were not wearing seat belts, including Clydnesha, who was ejected from the car. She landed on a wrought iron fence, said deputies and residents near the crash site.
Geez, that's a shame, and if they charge the mother on criminal charges that would really suck.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote"> Why? Aren't parents supposed to be responsible for their minor children anymore, not to mention their friggen' car keys? And, I have to wonder, a co-ed pajama party for 12-15 year-olds? I'm not trying to judge, but as a parent I find that inappropriate behavior for my children. At the least, it certainly doesn't sound like they were adequately supervised. A moments indescretion by not one, but six kids plus at least one adult, will have terrible ramificatons for so many families for so long. My heart goes out to all of them but, if the parent could have prevented this tragedy, IMO she shares equally in culpability.
2004 | 6MTs | Diamond Graphite/Graphite
Upstate NY
I'm with dholly. I don't really have a problem with the kids being at the party, but they definitely needed a responsible adult in the next room, if not watching them. I'm all for letting kids be kids, but there's no way they should have gotten out of that house, much less with car keys.
"struan87 you are way better than Google!" --BCole Pictures.
I don't really have a problem with the kids being at the party...<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote"> I am surprised that a co-ed, overnight pajama party for 12-15 y.o.'s meets with your approval. All I can say is most parents think differently when it's their decision to place their daughter into such a situation. I just wish every parent did, it might have saved those kids. Many parents are forcing their kids to to grow up way too early these days, way before they have the emotional maturity and practical experience to make good decisions.
2004 | 6MTs | Diamond Graphite/Graphite
Upstate NY
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by dholly
I am surprised that a co-ed, overnight pajama party for 12-15 y.o.'s meets with your approval. All I can say is most parents think differently when it's their decision to place their daughter into such a situation. I just wish every parent did, it might have saved those kids. Many parents are forcing their kids to to grow up way too early these days, way before they have the emotional maturity and practical experience to make good decisions.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
I think it's okay for the kids, but there is a huge burden on the supervising parents to make sure that everything stays "safe". I would have no problem leaving my kid under the care of a parent I trusted (grain of salt: I'm not a parent). The parents have to make the decision of whether their child is mature enough to handle a coed party once the question of supervision is answered. In this case, I'm going to guess that these kids are not very mature, but that doesn't mean no kids are.
I believe that if you treat kids like adults, they'll act like them. Teaching your kids the proper way to respect and interact with the opposite sex is far better than avoiding the issue till it's too late.
"struan87 you are way better than Google!" --BCole Pictures.
Very tragic story. But how in the hell did the mother not realize that 6 kids got out of the house and took her car. It wasn't that late at night, I believe they said 6:20pm. It just seems like she would have heard something.
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">I believe that if you treat kids like adults, they'll act like them. <hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">Maybe that's part of the problem, trying to force a kid to mature before they're ready. More and more responsibility keeps getting piled into kids laps these days. But like you said, kids will be kids, and I think this story provides more evidence that it's usually too much to ask of most 12-15 y.o.'s. As a parent I concluded loong ago, 12-15 y.o.'s are still called kids because the vast majority of them are not sufficiently mature enough to make the right choices consistently without adult guidance.
Regardless, if I teach my children appropriately and trust them to make good judgement calls, it still doesn't mean I should expose them to situations I feel may have a real chance for potentially catastrophic consequences. For example, my children know the realities of sex and drugs much better than most of their ages, yet I still would not place them in a room full of teens smoking crack, or a room full of sexually curious and developing adolescents, in the 'hope' they did the right thing.
Even if I have all the confidence in the world in my child, avoiding a particular situation in the first place isn't paranoid or over-protective. Nor is it burying my head in the sand. It's just one part of a conciously proactive method of parenting and ensuring a safe environment for my child. When it comes to any child's welfare, better safe than sorry usually works best.
2004 | 6MTs | Diamond Graphite/Graphite
Upstate NY
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JoyRide KILLS 3
