Teens killed in crashes mourned

Young drivers may be charged, police suspect alcohol

Sara Burnett, Rocky Mountain News

Published March 19, 2007 at midnight

Text size  

• 0 Comments
• Email
• Print

In Lochbuie, friends and family lit candles and left messages in black marker at the crash site: "God Bless You Kyle" and "Please don't drink and drive."

In Lakewood, hundreds of people donned pink ribbons and watched a slide show of a towheaded little girl who grew into a pretty, sometimes goofy young woman.

Kyle Walls, 15, and Samara Stricklen, 17, died three days and some 30 miles apart.

But on Sunday, the people close to them mourned deaths that were tragically similar.

Both teens died in vehicle crashes - Walls on Friday night in Lochbuie, Stricklen late Tuesday in Lakewood.

In both cases, the drivers - who survived and may face criminal charges - were teens who police suspect had been drinking.

The deaths have left authorities and others shaking their heads and wondering what more it will take to convince young people not to drink and drive.

New, tougher teen driving laws - which prohibit Colorado teenagers who have had their driver's license for less than six months from having passengers under 21 in the car - have helped cut down on crashes involving young drivers, said Master Trooper Ronald Watkins of the Colorado State Patrol.

But the laws can't prevent all accidents, and in the Walls and Stricklen cases, police believe the laws were violated.

"We just can't reach them all," Watkins said.

Watkins also said that too often the impact of having a friend or classmate die seems "short- lived." Young people might grieve and cry for a while, but they tend to quickly go back to thinking nothing bad will happen to them, he said.

Rosanne Sena, who lives near the site where the car Walls was riding in crashed late Friday, hopes that's not the case.

"I'm hoping all the teenagers learn from this," she said Sunday. "These kids need to wake up and realize they're not invincible."

Police said Walls was a passenger in a 1994 Saturn driven by his 16-year-old neighbor, whom authorities have not identified.

Around 11:45 p.m. Friday, the driver apparently missed a left turn on East Locust Avenue in Lochbuie. The car hit a large tree in a woman's front yard, then spun around, smashing through her garage door.

The driver and Walls, neither of whom had been wearing a seat belt, managed to get out of the car.

They were walking north into a grassy field, toward their homes, when Walls collapsed, police said. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Sena and her husband, Albert, said they called police after hearing the crash, then walked outside to see what had happened.

The couple saw the boys walking up the street and into the field, but didn't think they appeared seriously injured.

Police believe the driver had been speeding, but Watkins said they have not determined how fast he was going.

The driver was treated at Denver Health Medical Center for minor injuries, Watkins said. He has not yet been charged.

Meanwhile, the 16-year-old driver who hit the car Samara Stricklen was riding in is expected to appear in court Tuesday on a possible charge of vehicular homicide.

Police say the Green Mountain High School student was eastbound on West Alameda Parkway near West Florida Avenue around 8:30 p.m. Tuesday when she crossed the center line, hitting the car Stricklen was riding in head-on.

During a visitation Sunday afternoon in Lakewood, family and friends laughed and cried as they looked at pictures and shared stories about the Bear Creek High School junior.

On pieces of pink paper - Stricklen's favorite color - they recorded thoughts that were added to a book of memories her family will keep.

In one, a friend wrote about goofing off in chemistry class. Another said shopping for dresses just wouldn't be the same anymore. And friends of the family said they would never forget her.

"We'll all be telling others not to drink and drive," they wrote.

burnetts@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5343

Featured

• 2008 Voter’s Guide

  

  Use our Ballot Builder tool to compare your viewpoints to the candidates.

• A Dozen on Denver

  

  Sandra Dallas wrote 'Lennie's tavern' for our ongoing fiction series. Check it out!

• Rocky Multimedia

  

  The news comes alive in our videos and slide shows. Catch up on today's events.

• Bronco Dean's rant

  

  Listen to Bronco Dean's totally biased pregame rant about the Broncos-Jaguars game.

• Presidential Elections

  

  See how Colorado counties have voted through the years.

• County election profiles

  

  A look at how residents in each Colorado county may vote.

• A dream fulfilled

  

  A Rocky Mountain News and MediaStorm production

• Latest from Dove Valley

  

  Click for more broncos videos.

• Sam Adams' Open Mic

  

  No. 44 means a lot to Floyd Little