traffic accident in Millington TN. kills seven teenagers

[MORTARDUDE]

http://www.commercialappeal.com/mca/...696398,00.html

Day of grief
Families, friends try to heal

By Cindy Wolff
Contact
March 2, 2004

They were just being kids speeding over a spot in the road where tires go airborne; one of those thrill spots teens try when testing their wings.

They called Andrew Sneller, 13, and asked him to go riding with them. He couldn't. He was grounded for two D's on his report card.





That academic misfortune kept him alive.

Sneller and his friends at Millington Middle School spent Monday talking to counselors about the loss of seven classmates, killed in a one-car crash early Sunday morning.

Killed were driver Michael Fradella, 15; and passengers Clifford Gordon 'Trey' Hannah III, 13; Crystal Smith, 13; Eric Sansone, 14; Samantha Stawizynski, 13; Lauren Sutherland, 13; and Jessica Wallace, 13.

Shelby County sheriff's deputies said Fradella, who recently earned his learner's permit, took his friends Trey and Eric out driving.

They stopped and picked up the girls from a slumber party at Crystal's home.

Families spent Monday looking through pictures, picking out caskets, trying to figure out how to pay for seven funerals and reminiscing.

"He was so goofy," said Leslie Hannah, 17, of her little brother, Trey. "He was always joking and laughing and borrowing my hair gel."

Shelby County Schools sent counselors to the school to attend classes and help the remaining 643 students deal with the loss.

"We didn't do anything but talk all day about it," Sneller said. "It was boring and sad. Some people were mad and sad that it happened."

Some students wrote poems or notes to the families. Others left school early.

Gloria Wilkinson stood on the front porch of her granddaughter Samantha's home and wondered how she would live without her first grandchild, who would have turned 14 next month.

"You feel that cold wind?" Wilkinson said. "That's blowing through my heart right now. I feel like a skeleton, and it's blowing right through me.

"I've never felt this much pain."

She told Sammy over and over not to ride in a car with young men.

"Michael was Sammy's friend since she was 11 years old. He was her knight in shining armor. He used to ride his bike over to see her. I guess she just felt safe, but I told her that she shouldn't ride with young boys. I'm so surprised she got in that car."

Kevin Wallace said his daughter, Jessica, made straight A's and was a homebody who preferred to take naps in the afternoons, and long baths at night while she read her magazines.

His house was typically full of Jessica's friends doing makeovers, painting fingernails and listening to music.

Across U.S. 51, Eric Sansone's family talked about the chunky little boy who came two years ago from Delaware to live with his dad, stepmom and their children.

"He had a small suitcase with hardly anything," said Kathy Sansone, his stepmother. "I bought all his clothes at a yard sale, and he never complained. He was a happy boy. There wasn't a mean bone in his body."

They ran their hands along the strings of Mardi Gras beads hanging neatly on clothes hangers in his closet. The family had recently made a trip to New Orleans.

"He was the second-best thing I ever had," said his sister, Ashley, whose name was written on Eric's calendar, marking her 11th birthday Friday. "The first is my parents."

David Sansone said Eric sprouted, thinned down and enjoyed football and baseball. He and Eric would challenge the next door neighbor Paul Wilder and his son Eric to football.

"I'd be making all these play calls for my Eric to try to catch the ball," said Paul. "He'd tell Eric, 'just get open' and they'd score every time. We never did beat them."

Joe Fradella didn't want to talk much. He hasn't been in Michael's room since the night his son and friends sneaked out a window and went driving in one of the father's cars.

He showed pictures and said his son was outgoing, loved to be with friends and would help anyone.

"He had a big heart and just loved everyone," Fradella said. "This is a nightmare."

Officers said no alcohol or drugs were found in the car but that toxicology tests had been ordered.

"They won't find anything," Kevin Wallace said.

"These were good kids. It can happen to anyone. Peer pressure is just as dangerous as any drug or any drink."


- Cindy Wolff:

[MORTARDUDE]

http://www.commercialappeal.com/mca/...693581,00.html

7 teenagers die in Millington joyride
Why?

By Chris Conley
Contact
March 1, 2004

A late-night joyride turned to tragedy when a 15-year-old crashed the car he was driving into a tree near Millington, killing himself and six friends.

A passing motorist discovered the crushed car and the teens on Chambers Road, between Quito and Epperson Mill roads, about 2:30 a.m. Sunday.

Police said they did not know exactly when it happened. The teens, all students at Millington Middle School, were dead when police arrived.

They were identified as Michael Fradella, 15, the driver; and passengers Trey Hannah, 15; Lauren Sutherland, 15; Samantha Stawizynski, 15; Jessica Wallace, 13; Crystal Smith, 13; and Eric Sansone, 14.

The 1991 Mazda Protege topped a low hill at high speed in the westbound lane of Chambers, went airborne, bounded across the eastbound lanes and hit the tree sideways, Shelby County Sheriff's Department spokesman Steve Shular said.

The tree-lined road runs through a semirural area northwest of Millington.

There was no evidence of alcohol use, Shular said. Routine toxicological tests have been ordered.

Michael was driving on a learner's permit, Shular said.

Tennessee law says that holders of learner's permits must have a licensed driver 21 or older in the car and may not drive between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.

The four girls had been at a slumber party at Crystal's home, Shular said.

The girls were in the care of Crystal's grandmother, who was not identified.

The girls apparently locked the bedroom door behind them and left through a window. The screen on the window showed signs of being pried open, Shular said.

When deputies arrived at the crash site, they were unable to find any identification, Shular said.

Then a cell phone in the wreckage started ringing, and deputies picked it up. Michael Fradella's father was calling.

Michael Fradella's brother, Joe Fradella, recalled:

"I woke up about 5 o'clock and my dad said, 'I can't find your brother. We need to go look for him.' He had taken the keys to my dad's car while everyone was asleep, around 2 or 2:30. I guess he went out and scooped up his friends."

When they called Michael's cell phone, a police officer answered.

Joe Fradella said he believed the car was traveling about 80 miles an hour and skidded about 60 feet before hitting the tree.

"I guess a joyride, or something," the brother said.

"It's tragic," Shular said. "They all knew each other; they were very close."

Friends and family members converged on the site, at times clogging the road. Car parts were scattered across the area around the tree.

Some visitors had flowers to lay on the ground by the tree.

Others, weeping and being held up by friends, threw themselves down in front of the tree and were pulled away by friends.

The tragedy "is going to make parents pay close attention to where their kids are," said Eddie Matlock, whose stepdaughter was good friends with several of the victims.

He said he became concerned that she was among the victims after hearing about the tragedy. The girl stayed with her father that night as planned, he said.

"But when I first heard about it, I wanted to see her myself," Matlock said.

John Launius, a schoolteacher at Crosspointe Baptist Church, where he had taught some of the children, came to the site to pay his respects.

"They were good kids. A lot of kids loved them," he said, wiping away tears.

Sara Morris , 14, said she had been close friends with both Michael Fradella and Trey Hannah.

She said Michael had just gotten his learner's permit and was excited about it.

Morris said she called Trey "Trey-Trey," and that they often walked to the local library together.

[revwardoc]

So how was a 15 year old kid able to get that car without his parents knowledge and permission?

[MORTARDUDE]

He went out thru a window when everybody at home was asleep. He then went and got some of the girls at a slumber party at one of the girls grandmother's house. As the paramedics and police were going thru the wreckage, a cell phone went off and it was the driver's father looking for him. That is how he found out about it...There is a picture of the car on the website. There isn't much left...Nothing can stop kids from doing stuff like this. You only hope it isn't yours that do it. My prayers are with the families.

Larry