Friends remember smile of teen killed in accident

Heather Cory

Nichole Taylor traces the words “Lynn, Forever Loved and Never Forgotten,” which were left by friends of Olivia Brandise “Lynn” Hyten at a small memorial at Anthem Hills skate park on Monday. Hyten, a Coronado High School sophomore, was killed Friday in a car accident.

By Frances Vanderploeg (contact)

Published Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2008 | 2:59 p.m.

Updated Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2008 | 5:45 p.m.

Anyone who met Olivia Irelin Brandise Hyten could agree on one thing: Her smile was her most memorable trait.

A flash of her grin would easily cheer someone up or put them at ease, friends said, and she was always worried about other people’s welfare before her own.

“She had the most amazing smile,” Brandon Sanchez, 19, said.

That smile is now only a memory after the rollover crash that cost 15-year-old Olivia her life in the early morning hours of Nov. 15.

At 11:30 p.m. Nov. 14, Henderson police officers were dispatched to Grand Hills and Villa Barolo on the Rio Secco Golf Course, where Olivia was pronounced dead at the scene. She was not wearing a seatbelt, police said. Three of her peers were taken to area hospitals, and the driver of a second truck, Michael Mosley, 16, was arrested on charges of driving under the influence of alcohol.

Mosley, son of District Judge Donald Mosley, is being held in juvenile detention pending an investigation to determine if his behavior contributed to the crash. A hearing will be held at 1 p.m. Nov. 24 in Family Court.

Investigators believe speed and alcohol contributed to the crash, police said.

Teresa Brandise, Olivia’s mother, said she has tried to welcome the attention from friends and media, seeing it as the fulfillment of one of her daughter’s goals.

“My daughter was going to grow up to be famous, so this is her moment of fame,” she said.

Throughout Olivia’s life, she touched several people, but three had affected her, Brandise said. Former elementary school principal Pat Skorkowsky, now assistant region superintendent for the Southeast Region; former teacher Chandra Hackett; and a gym coach the family knew as “Toby,” loved her and influenced her from the moment they met, Brandise said.

Skorkowsky said he also felt the connection.

“One of my goals was to know every kid and make a personal connection with every child, and Olivia and I had that connection,” said Skorkowsky, who saw Olivia only a month ago.

“It’s just traumatic for everybody,” he said. “It’s something that you never want to hear and have to deal with.”

Sanchez, who knew Olivia as “Lynn,” made a makeshift memorial with the words “Lynn — Forever Loved and Never Forgotten” written on stickers and sprawling across a wall in the Anthem Hills Park skate park.

In the first days after her death, a lone white candle flickered through most of the day and night, with friends making sure to replace each candle as it burned down.

“All of her classmates that took her cheerfulness for granted, now they know that it’s their job,” Brandise said. “She knew more about life than most 15-year-olds.”

Some of Olivia’s friends said they’re still working to convince themselves Olivia is gone.

“It still seems surreal,” Kayla Plain, 16, said as she viewed the site of the crash, where bent metal and a crumbled wall were juxtaposed against another memorial set up by friends — fresh flowers, stuffed animals, signs, balloons, cards and more candles.

Despite the loss, Plain was able to laugh while she remembered Olivia’s pranks at nearby restaurants and at the skate park.

“She was always a jokester,” Plain said.

She pointed out that Coronado students sat through Every 15 Minutes, a presentation by the Henderson Police Department on the dangers of drinking and driving, only a month before.

During the presentation, juniors and seniors sat in stands outside the school as three students were pulled from a mock car crash. Two were sent to the hospital and one died on scene. A fourth student was tested and arrested for DUI.

The event ends with an often emotional assembly the next day.

As a sophomore, Olivia would not have been at the mock crash, but a video and discussion is presented to the freshmen and sophomore students in the days after the crash.

Plain said the crash that killed her friend was so much like the presentation, she could not believe that the Coronado teens had engaged in that behavior so soon afterward.

Other friends said they hoped a lesson would be learned from Olivia’s death.

“This teaches you to live every day to its fullest — she always did,” Roslyn Stoeckman, 16, said. “You never know what’s going to happen.”

Antonio Moya, 11, knew Olivia from the skate park. He’s learned to think about his actions more, he said, and plans to take this lesson with him as he gets older.

“She was always the happiest one in the crowd,” he said. “Now I’m much more cautious.”

A third, more permanent memorial is being considered for Anthem Hills Park. Sanchez and Nichole Taylor, 17, said they would like to raise money so that a memorial plaque can be placed at the park.

Frances Vanderploeg can be reached at 990-2660 or frances.vanderploeg@hbcpub.com.