RALEIGH, N.C. Local Charlotte — Family and friends came together for a second night to honor the lives of the five teen boys killed in a crash early Sunday morning.
Raleigh police said the Lexus SUV they were in was reported stolen from a home in September. But it’s unclear how the teens ended up in that car.
The vigil Tuesday evening was held at Dr. Martin Luther King Junior Memorial Gardens in Raleigh.
“I’m not burying my kids. My kids going to bury me,” the relative of one of the teens killed told the crowd.
Hundreds gathered to show their support for the families. There are still so many trying to wrap their minds and hearts around the tragedy.
It was early Sunday morning, the boys were headed south on Capital Boulevard when the SUV they were in crashed into a concrete abutment at Fairview Road.
The damage was so bad the person who called 911 couldn’t even tell if anyone was in the vehicle.
“I couldn’t believe it when they told me he was involved in the accident and he didn’t make it,” Kourtney Strayhorn said.
Strayhorn lost her 17-year-old son, Kamari. It took seeing his body at the funeral home to make it real.
“I hugged him and I kissed him and I knew it was official,” Strayhorn said.
“He had A’s and B’s in school. He was on his football team, he was the quarterback of his football team,” Cassandra Black said.
Black lost her 13-year-old son, Mi-Keal Freeman in the crash.
“He was my strength so now I have to be strong for his brothers,” Black said.
Also in the 2013 Lexus SUV were, Lebron Staton and Zymeer Dennis, both 14, along with Jeremiah Williams, 17.
“It’s a lot, it’s a lot,” Williams’ mother said.
Raleigh Police haven’t said who was driving, only that speed was a factor. Police estimated they were traveling at 80 mph at the time.
