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Four high school students in Henry County, Georgia, died in a car crash, while one remains critically injured in the hospital. The accident occurred Wednesday afternoon, less than two miles from the students’ school, Eagle’s Landing High School, 11 Alive reported.
According to law enforcement, five students were in the car when they swerved off of the road and into an embankment off of Oak Grove Road in McDonough. While tire marks were not evident on the street, police claim the 2002 Nissan Altima came into impact with some trees when it swerved off the road while traveling northbound.
Kenderrias Dodson, 16; Jordan Brown, 15; and Katrina Owens, 15, lost their lives at the scene. Kendarius Jackson, 16, died a couple of days later due to his injuries. Zakray Jones, 15, is the fifth student and is still hospitalized.
According to the high school’s Twitter page, a vigil was held on May 16 at the school’s football stadium at 7:30 p.m. Students gathered around lunchtime to release balloons in their memory at the high school.
The Eagle’s Landing high school’s principal released a statement on the school’s behalf regarding the tragedy.
“I want to share our sincere appreciation for the many calls, messages, thoughts, prayers, and numerous kind and caring gestures that have been extended during this extremely difficult time for our school,” the statement read. “The pain from the loss of young lives is one of the toughest feelings to experience as an educator, but it is the incredible community spirit that sustains us all during times of grief and sorrow. While the dedicated staff of the school and strict have been here to support individuals who have been impacted by these losses, our community has been an uplifting force to help ease the heaviness that can weigh us down during times like this. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you all for your support of Eagle’s Landing High School, our staff, our students, and these families. We will get through this tough time together. Thanks to you, we are #EaglsLandingStrong!”
Henry County Schools also expressed their condolences and thanked everyone for reaching out with support.
Charles and Terra Dodson, Kenderrias’ parents, talked about leaning on each other for support while grieving their son, who was behind the wheel.
“He was a very happy kid,” Terra said of her son. “He was a good kid, very mannerable, very respectful, and all teachers, anybody he came in contact with loved him.”
His father, Charles, mentioned how Kenderrias wanted to play for the Atlanta Braves eventually.
Katrina’s aunt Rita Owens told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the 15-year-old came from a household with a strict mother named Yolanda. So, Katrina wasn’t allowed to go places without permission. Unfortunately, Katrina’s mother did not know her daughter was in the car. Rita said that she saw Katrina that morning, but when she returned to the house from work, expecting Katrina to be there to greet her as usual, she felt something was wrong seeing her niece wasn’t home.
Rita and Yolanda’s worries grew after the brother of one of the students knocked on their door to inform them that his sister was in the hospital. Yolanda then drove to the hospital to see if her daughter was there but received a call from authorities telling her to return home.
“We were hoping that she was in jail,” Rita said. “We were hoping for something of that sort instead of the actual news we got.”
Katrina was dating Kenderrias and best friends with Jordan.
The accident is still under investigation as authorities are trying to figure out the cause of the accident.