Teens reflect in aftermath of deadly wreck

By Emily Richmond (contact)

Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2003 | 11:52 a.m.

Just days before a car wreck would claim the lives of three of his friends and leave two others badly injured, Green Valley High School junior Anthony Sciulara sat with sophomore Cody Fredericks in their seventh period health class.

The day's topic -- the consequences of drinking and driving.

Tuesday, Fredericks was in critical condition at University Medical Center and Sciulara was standing in front of a makeshift memorial to 15-year-olds Josh Parry, Travis Dunning and Kyle Poff.

"Mostly it's just sad," Sciulara said.

"Nobody thinks it's going to happen to them. These are awesome guys, they get good grades, they don't get in trouble. This is so wrong." The three were killed when the car they were riding in slammed into a cement and cinder block wall on Silver Springs Drive in Henderson at 12:30 a.m. Monday. Dunning was a sophomore at Green Valley while Poff and Parry were sophomores at Coronado High School.

Also injured was the driver of the 1995 Pontiac Grand Am, 16-year-old Sean Larimer, a sophomore at Green Valley, who was in serious condition at UMC on Wednesday following surgery.

Larimer was issued his license Sept. 6 -- 64 days before the crash, according to the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles. State law requires that drivers ages 16 and 17 not transport anyone under age 18 until they have had their licenses a minimum of 60 days.

Henderson Police said immediately after the crash that they suspected alcohol was a contributing factor. The complete investigation is expected to take several weeks, said Officer Shane Lewis, Henderson Police spokesman.

If toxicology reports reveal that Larimer was under the influence at the time of the wreck he could face alcoholrelated charges, Lewis said. For drivers under 21, the blood-alcohol limit is 0.02. For drivers over 21, it's 0.08.

The dangers of drug and alcohol abuse are a regular part of the school district's curriculum beginning with eighth-grade health classes.

"We try to hit it from every angle," said Coronado Principal Monte Bay.

"We talk about it class, special assemblies and programs, and with our parent advisory group.

Maybe we need to hit this even harder." The Coronado and Green Valley campuses were somber this morning, as students hugged and cried in the parking lots before class. Counselors were available to talk with students who needed extra support, school officials said.

Green Valley sophomore Christie Van Blericon, who has known most of the teenagers in the car since elementary school, said the magnitude of the loss would probably hit her during her world history class when the seat next to her remained empty.

"Travis and I sat together, he could always make me laugh," Van Blericon said.

Van Blericon said she wasn't sure whether prevention programs would have much of an effect on students determined to "party." Although she receives invitations to gatherings every weekend, she doesn't attend.

"There's always drugs and drinking," Van Blericon said.

"I'm not into that at all, plus I have to be home at 10 p.m." While the district focuses on drug and alcohol awareness in the health curriculum, driver's education is offered only as a correspondence course through the distance learning program.

Sen. Barbara Cegavske, R-Las Vegas, pushed unsuccessfully during the last legislative session for a stricter licensing process for teen drivers. Senate Bill 256, which died in Assembly, would have required drivers 17 and younger to have 50 hours of supervised driving before earning a license. Parents could also have been fined if a teen driver had anyone under age 18 in his vehicle during the first six months that the license was issued. Friends said the young men in the car had been together at a house party shortly before the wreck. Sciulara said he called Dunning's cell phone shortly after 12:30 a.m. to make arrangements to meet up with him and was surprised when his friend did not answer.

"I thought that was weird, Travis always answered his phone, 24-seven," Sciulara said.

"When I found out about the crash I knew right away whose car it was." When asked how many separate parties took place Sunday evening, Green Valley High School senior Noelle Waite said, "Too many too count." House parties, or even gatherings in vacant lots or parks, happen every weekend, Waite said.

Alcohol is always plentiful and sometimes accompanied by marijuana or the occasional "hard" drug, Waite said.

The party hosts secure the liquor from older siblings or friends with fake IDs, Waite said. To cover costs, party guests are often charged $5 for a plastic cup, Waite said.

"Kids are going to drink, it's a fact of life," Waite said. "Parents need to make sure their kids know they can call and tell them, 'I've been drinking and I need a ride' and not get in trouble." Charles Cooley, a psychologist at UMC, agreed.

"The most important thing is for parents to keep the lines of communication open," Cooley said Tuesday. "Good kids make mistakes, and you don't want them turning a mistake into a tragedy where someone winds up maimed or dead because they were afraid to call home."

The cell phones and pagers so popular with teenagers quickly spread the news of the crash. Sam King, a junior at Green Valley, said his phone rang constantly from about 1 a.m. on. King was working Tuesday on having T-shirts printed to memorialize his lost friends as well as offer support to Fredericks and Larimer.

Rachel Toffer, a Green Valley sophomore who was friends with the car's occupants, said she hoped Larimer would not face criminal charges.

"I hope he wasn't drinking," Toffer said. "This is going to be bad enough for him without the police coming down on him." Kathy Enoch, who accompanied her son to the memorial Tuesday, said she hoped the horror of Monday's crash would keep other teens from making similar mistakes. The focus should be on learning from the tragedy, not assigning blame, Enoch said.

"I know if Travis and the others have their way, they'll be sitting on everyone of these kids' shoulders," Enoch said, as her son looped his arms over her shoulders for a hug. "And if any of them even think about it, they'll give them a nudge and say 'Don't even go there.' "