14 DAY TRIAL // An SUV crash has claimed the lives of six teenagers in Warren, Ohio, as the car veered off the road, landing into a pond area.
WKBN informs that eight youngsters were in the vehicle on Sunday, March 10. They were driving in a 1998 Honda Passport on Pine Street, in the Trumbull County town.
As they were headed south at 7 a.m., the SUV went off the road, crashing into a guardrail, flipping over and sinking in a swamp. Two passengers escaped the crash and were able to call 911 by alerting people in the area.
As they victims were recovered, medical reports revealed that they died of hypothermic drowning. Authorities believe that 19-year-old Alexis Cayson, driving the vehicle, was speeding.
Other victims included 14-year-old Andrique Bennett; Kirklan M. Behner, Daylan Ray, Ramone M. White, all 15; and 17-year-old Brandon A. Murray. School district spokesman, Aaron Schwab describes that most of them attended high-school in Warren at different institutions.
While he believes that White might have been a former student in the town, it cannot be confirmed at this time. None of the students was the owner of the vehicle registered to Marguis Stephenson in Youngstown, and there is no information on how the teens got ahold of the car.
“As far as the vehicle is concerned, our preliminary investigation shows that none of the occupants had expressed permission to be in possession of the vehicle. [...] However, no reports have been filed or anything of that nature at this time,” Ohio State Highway Patrol Lt. Brian Holt explains.
“I have taken most of this morning to meet with all the family members that I possibly could at both hospitals. [...] We’re going to pull together for them,” adds Mayor Doug Franklin, expressing his condolences for the grieving family.