Friends gather to mourn Del Sol High School student killed in crash

Corey Knight, 16, remembered as talented musician and ‘a great kid’

Mona Shield Payne / Special to the Sun

Derek Craig, right, writes a note in memory of Corey Knight during a candlelight vigil held Friday night at the crash site on Gateway Road. Knight, 16, a Del Sol senior, was killed in a single-vehicle crash Friday afternoon.

By Tiffany Gibson (contact), Jean Reid Norman (contact)

Saturday, Sept. 26, 2009 | 2:05 a.m.

Corey Knight memorial

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Fatal SUV Crash

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Sgt. Oscar Chavez on a wreck that left one teen dead and two injured.
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Teen dies after SUV hits block wall (9-25-2009)

Fatal crash

A Del Sol High School student was killed and two of his friends were injured when his SUV struck a block wall on a semi-rural street off Russell Road near Annie Oakley Drive, Metro Police said.

Corey Knight, 16, was driving his white Toyota SUV on Gateway Road near Rawhide Street at about 2 p.m. when he lost control on a pockmarked gravel portion on the wrong side of the road. The SUV crossed to the right side, jumped a sidewalk and ran headlong into a wall, lodging against a tree on the driver’s side, police and witnesses at the scene said.

Knight was declared dead at the scene. Two male passengers, one 16 and one 17, were taken to Sunrise Hospital and reported in serious condition, Metro Police spokeswoman Barbara Morgan said.

Friends gathered Friday night for an impromptu memorial for Knight. They wept, embraced and left notes at the site of the crash. Candles were lit, including an array of flickering lights that spelled out Corey's name. His mother, Jennifer Knight, was among those at the memorial and spoke.

All three teens were wearing seatbelts, said Phil Bozeman, a neighbor who reached the vehicle before police arrived on the scene.

Police had received reports of a vehicle doing donuts or possibly racing another vehicle, but there were no eyewitnesses to the crash, Metro Sgt. Oscar Chavez said. He said the speed limit in the area is 25 mph, but the vehicle was traveling at a much higher speed.

Drugs or alcohol were not suspected, Chavez said.

Friends of Knight gathered at the crash scene as police removed the crumpled SUV and mourned their loss.

“I can’t believe he’s gone. He was one of my best guy friends,” said Vesta Clinton, 17, a Del Sol student. She said Knight had invited her to go with the three friends after school, but she had other plans.

“I’ve already cried all my tears out,” she said.

Knight was a musician. He played guitar, bass, piano and drums, his friends said.

He wrote his own material as well, said Rocky Rosen, a friend and bandmate.

“He did a lot of melodies and came up with riff patterns,” Rosen said. “He was really good at reading music.”

Knight had hooked up an amplifier to his car so that he could plug his guitar into the car and play it, Rosen said. They would make their own music instead of using the car radio, he said.

Renee Warden, Knight’s former girlfriend, said she had seen him just the day before the crash. He had been at her house composing music, Warden’s father, Greg, said.

“I don’t know what to think. I got a call saying Corey had been in an accident,” Renee Warden said. Once she saw Knight’s car, she knew it was him.

“Corey doesn’t let anyone else drive his car,” she said.

Greg Warden said Knight was a funny, polite teen who was confident around adults and always played with his younger sons when he visited the house.

“Corey was a great kid,” he said.

Neighbor Beverly Carollo, who called police after she heard the crash, said teens often speed up and down the narrow street, which has wide gravel shoulders in places.

It appeared from police markings of the vehicle’s path that Knight lost control after hitting a group of potholes in one of those gravel spots.

Jay Rosen, Rocky Rosen’s father, and Greg Warden said they hope the crash, as tragic as it is, sends a strong message to teen drivers.

“When I was a kid, I lost a friend this way,” Jay Rosen said. “The kids don’t realize you can lose control.”

Greg Warden said he would like to see Knight’s crumpled vehicle placed in front of Del Sol as a reminder to the students to be careful.

Jay Rosen said the crash sent a loud message to his son, also a new driver. “He grows up today,” the father said.

Discussion: 13 comments so far…

By DTJ

9/26/09 at 11:29 a.m.

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"Corey was a great kid," he said.
I have no doubt this was true. Now, lives of the survivors have been instantly, and tragically, changed forever. This was a truly senseless loss. No bad guys; only suffering survivors.
So what do we make of this or do? Kids will be kids. There's not much the rest of us can do to turn off the hormones and the compulsive, rash behavior of teenagers. Over on this story's initial version (the link under "Related Story"), I started a discussion on whether or not we really need to be allowing "kids" to be driving cars and trucks (essentially, deadly weapons), at ages as young as 16. Frankly, I'm NOT decided yet myself. Just wondering out loud. Have a looksee, and add your thoughts.
By Westerly8

9/26/09 at 1:05 p.m.

Comment removed by staff.
By lovinbill

9/26/09 at 3:54 p.m.

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THIS IS A TRAGEDY!!! TRUE, IT WOULD BE WORSE IF SOMEONE ELSE HAD BEEN KILLED BUT THIS IS A PERSON, A CHILD, WHO IS DEAD AND THAT IS STILL A TRAGEDY TO THE PEOPLE WHO LOVE HIM. MAYBE NOT TO YOU BUT TO OTHERS, JERK!!!!!
By oliveu

9/26/09 at 5:07 p.m.

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Westerly8, you're the jackass. Why don't you go on a diet and stop obsessing over your family pet. You are a miserable human with no life or self worth, than your fat butt and a pathetic animal that you cherish. You are an angry person and those who know you wish you'd get the help you need.
By knightmary

9/26/09 at 5:37 p.m.

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corey and me were more then cousins we were the best of friends he was always there for me every step of the way...... i was hopping to have a great school year with him and have fun and live life .... but as life goes on things happen and if they were good or bad he would stand by my side..... but yesterday was the worst of life and he promised me he would be here so far he has
By Westerly8

9/26/09 at 7:49 p.m.

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Fair enough, I am sorry for that the post, it was insensitive. Of course the death of anyone is a bad thing. However, the point must be made that these vehicles are not toys and people need to drive accordingly. The results otherwise are tragic.
By odog

9/27/09 at 6:20 a.m.

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The preventive solutions for these types of accidents are to pass a law that changes the driving age to 18 yrs of age and make it illegal for any driver with less than 1 full year of driving experience, to allow passengers without a parent in the vehicle.
By LasVegas2009

9/27/09 at 2:50 p.m.

Comment removed by staff.
By dreamer

9/27/09 at 7:46 p.m.

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How about instead of laws and finger pointing, we educate our youth???? I took my daughter to Drivers Edge, which is a free driving education and hands-on driving course, that puts drivers in real ememgency driving situations and lets them feel what it is like. How many adults have ever driven fast on a dirt road? How many begiining drivers have driven fast on a dirt road? As a teenager I did; started to lose control, slowed down, freaked out, and realized that I had no idea that what happened, could happen. I am sure this is exactly what happended to this young man, only with different outcomes. Children need to have hands on driving experience, with all of the unexpected emergencies included.
By jtgreen33

9/28/09 at 5:08 p.m.

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I am up in the air about the driving age because there are adults out there who drive fast,drunk or underthe infulence of something. Instead of focusing on the law right now maybe we should start focusing on the tragedy. I am a parent of 3 boys 23, 18 & 16 and no parent should have to go through this. A mother,father maybe sister or brothr but a family has just lost someone very dear to there hearts. My heart goes out to the family and you are in my prayers. I just prey the not only teens but adults take this in as well. May you rest in peace Cory even though I never new you I see you were loved by many. God Bless to the family.
By juliaknight

9/28/09 at 7:06 p.m.

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Corey you are the greatest and you always will be.I didn't realize till' now how much of a great cousin you are.You are in a better place now where you can run into a tree and you will be fine,where you can never get sick.I love you Corey.It doesnt even feel real it just feels like your hiding behind a tree.I wish it wasn't you that had to go,but god has a plan for you.some may think it's not the best plan but you need to know that Corey is in a better place. Rest in Paradise. <3
By JKnight

9/30/09 at 12:24 a.m.

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There is a lot of misinformation about Corey's accident. To the blogger who suggested that things would have been different if Corey would have taken Drivers Edge, the answer is, he did. He passed the course with flying colors. He logged twice the amount of hours required by the DMV before getting his license. Corey was wearing his seatbelt at the time of the accident and his friends told me he always insisted on making others wear theirs too. He wasn't going very fast when he hit, according to one of the passengers but he took off too fast on a gravel road, hit the brakes and lost control. I grieve the loss of my son and will every day until I die but want people to take a bigger lesson away from this. There wasn't a day that went by that we didn't hug each other or say we loved each other. He accepted everyone as they were and was not judgmental and he lived a wonderful life and filled others with laughter. Kindness and a big heart is his legacy. Look at how he lived not how he died.
By maureenmlv

9/30/09 at 3:47 p.m.

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I lost my 16-year-old stepson in 1999 in a car accident--no drugs or alcohol, the driver wasn't tired, police determined that they weren't speeding, and the passengers were all seatbelted. Everyone in the vehicle was severely injured, though my son was the only one who died. There are no words, no words, for the pain. You go on, especially if you have other kids, because your kid would want you to. Somehow, you find a reason to breathe and walk forward. Even after he was gone, our son kept us going.

I'm a journalist, and I spend my life looking for answers, and the only answer I found for why my son died is that he was in an SUV on a bad road. The driver, a teenager, lost control on a bad road and overcorrected because SUVs don't react like a regular car. There are more single-vehicle deaths in SUVs than in any other vehicle. When we spoke with the parents of the driver involved in my son's accident, they said they bought their child an SUV because they thought she would be safer in a big vehicle. Not all SUVs are dangerous, but a high center of gravity and the distribution of weight is something to consider when buying a vehicle for someone who has not had a lot of experience behind the wheel--many adults can't even handle these trucks well. Nobody tells you this stuff at the car lot. This may not be the case with Corey's accident, but taking every opportunity I can to make people think about these vehicles I do it because it helps me cope with our loss. Maybe someone else won't have to suffer.

To Corey's family, you have my deepest, deepest sympathy. My family is not particularly spiritual, so it was especially hard when we didn't have that to turn to when everything else failed to console us. All I can tell you is what my little five-year-old told me when he saw me crying so much for his brother: "Don't cry. He just has work to do somewhere else."

Who knows where a little kid gets those words, but everyone in the family clung to them--it seemed right--our son was the best and it made sense that he had something to do beyond our little world. Who knows. I hope you find peace.