PERRY, Mich. (WILX) — A Mid-Michigan community is mourning the death of a teenager killed in a rollover accident Saturday night. She was one of eight people in an SUV when it flipped on I-69 in DeWitt Township.
Perry High School principal David Myron tells News 10 the student body is devastated. Class wasn’t in session today, but the school has plans in place for tomorrow.
“We are pretty tight-knit and people care about each other here. Its a really difficult time. No one knows what to say or do that’s right,” said Myron.
Dewitt Township Police tell News 10 the teenagers were in a trailblazer heading west on I-69 getting ready to merge onto us-127 when the car hit a patch of black ice causing them to hit the guardrail and roll over four times. Two of the backseat passengers were thrown from the SUV. One girl was pronounced dead at the scene and another is still hospitalized with serious injuries.
Police aren’t sure how many of the teens were wearing seatbelts.
“Things were pretty normal.It doesn’t seem like she was speeding.We do not believe there was any alcohol or drugs involved,” said Dewitt Township Police Chief, Brian Russell.
Myron is thankful the school had a snow day Monday so students had more time to process and heal. The school will have crisis teams and a therapy dog ready to go when they return Tuesday morning.
“One thing we wanted to make sure of is the people we brought in are the people that the kids actually know. That they see in the buildings all the time,” said Myron.
Myron plans to address the students about the tragedy and says the school will do anything it can to help the students and families involved.
“As an institution, we want to be as helpful as possible. As individuals, we want to be as helpful as possible.Ask people to pray for them and we will get through this,” said Myron.
Students at Perry High School tell News 10 they plan on wearing red tomorrow, their symbol for ‘perry strong’, in honor of the young girl who died in the accident.
Police have not released the victims’ names. They tell News 10 this is still an on-going investigation. We will keep you updated on it.
Full story can be found at http://www.wilx.com/content/news/Perry-mourns-student-killed-in–472827083.html
Chelsea Snyder 