Sophomore girl’s death brings somber mood to Coronado High School

By Kyle Hansen (contact)

Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2008 | 12:13 a.m.

Monday was a difficult day for students and their families at Coronado High School.

It was the first day that students were back at school after many of them learned from phone calls and text messages on Saturday that one of their classmates was dead and another was in juvenile detention.

Sophomore Olivia Hyten, known to most of her classmates as Lynn, was killed when the truck she was riding in lost control and ran off the road.

Michael Mosley, the driver of a second truck involved in the accident and the 16-year-old son of District Court Judge Donald Mosley, was arrested at the scene of the accident for driving under the influence.

Coronado High School Principal Lee Koelliker said Monday was a somber day.

The Clark County School District's crisis team spent the day at the school, offering eight additional counselors to work with the students and staff, if necessary.

Many students have asked to be sent home, Koelliker said, a place where they felt they could better deal with the crisis. Others have spent much of their time in groups or as individuals talking to a counselor.

Students said that the whole day was pretty solemn for most of them.

“It was very awkward – it wasn’t normal,” said junior Anthony Mendoza. “It was just a very sad day.”

“Even people that didn’t know her were very sad. It’s hard to lose someone like that.”

The accident, which police said involved teenagers driving under the influence of alcohol, came just a month after Coronado students sat through "Every 15 Minutes," a presentation by the Henderson Police Department designed to discourage students from such risky – and illegal – behavior.

During the presentation, juniors and seniors sat in stands outside the school as three students were pulled from a mock car crash and the fourth was tested and arrested for DUI. For the rest of the day, a student volunteer is removed from class every 15 minutes to illustrate how many teenagers die from alcohol-related crashes. The event ends with an often emotional assembly the next day.

As a sophomore, Hyten would not have seen the presentation, though a video and discussion is presented to the freshmen and sophomore students in the days after the presentation.

•••

According to police and witnesses of the accident, the teens were into two pickup trucks around 11:30 Friday night.

The trucks drove down Grand Hills Drive through the Rio Secco Golf Course, a white Chevrolet Silverado in front and a red Ford F250 truck close behind. The trucks far exceeded the posted 25-mile-per-hour speed limit. According to one of the teens in the back truck, the driver was going about 80 mph.

While going around a downhill curve, the Silverado lost control, hit the curb and rolled.

Stephen Lubawy and his girlfriend Olivia were in the back seat of the truck. Neither was wearing a seat belt.

Lubawy was ejected from the truck but survived. Olivia died at the scene.

Michael Mosley was driving the second truck – the one that did not crash. But according to police, Mosley was driving under the influence of alcohol. He was arrested at the scene.

Police also said that Michael Mosley has had other traffic violations and that he was restricted to driving to and from school.

Judge Donald Mosley appeared in Family Court with his wife, Terri, on Monday for Michael’s detention hearing. Despite the parent’s pleads, Family Court Judge William Voy ruled Michael Mosley would remain in juvenile detention until a plea hearing Nov. 24.

•••

“Olivia was a good girl, she was always happy all the time,” said freshman Jake McCormick. “I never saw her mad or sad or anything. She was always the one person that would make you happy if you were having a bad day.”

McCormick was in the second truck -- the one that didn’t crash Friday night.

“The last couple of days have been really hard,” he said Monday at the memorial that has developed at scene of the crash, “(I’ve) been crying a lot, been talking to a lot of friends, and -- I don’t know -- just been thinking about this whole thing.”

McCormick didn’t go to school Monday. But as he stood at the side of a crumbled wall, he reflected on what happened. And he sounded a lot older than a 14-year-old should.

“This shows you, you can’t screw around,” he said. “Life isn’t a joke, and you need to take everything seriously and live every moment like it’s your last.”

As he left the memorial Monday afternoon, McCormick took a piece of the crumbled wall that the truck crashed into.

“(The accident) shows people that cars are not toys,” he said. “They can kill you.”

-- Sun senior writer Mary Manning and Home News writer Frances Vanderploeg contributed to this story.