Parkville Middle School Copes With Death Of Student Killed After Drinking Four Loko
PARKVILLE, Md. (WJZ)—Grief counselors were on hand Tuesday at Parkville Middle School as students there cope with the death of their 13-year-old classmate killed this weekend along Harford Road.
Derek Valcourt has more on their message to friends of Michael Truluck.
Truluck was an eighth-grader at Parkville Middle School and an incredibly popular student. Classmates and teachers are taking his tragic death especially hard.
Truluck is being remembered by his friends for how he lived.
"He was the nicest kid. He was best friends with everybody," said student Kellie O'Donnell.
But it's how he died that has stunned his family and those who knew him through school.
Saturday he and some friends were hanging out in Parkville's Double Rock Park drinking Four Loko--a fruit-flavored beverage loaded with alcohol.
The drink made him so sick that he called for a ride home. He opened the door while the car was moving, so he could vomit. That's when he fell out into Harford Road and was run over.
The news of his death is heartbreaking to the teens who knew him and their parents.
"At 13 this isn't something they should have to go through," said Paula Waldhutter, parent.
"And they don't know how to deal with it because they've never had to deal with it before," said Jenni Frank, parent.
Over the last few days, hundreds of kids have stopped by, adding their own tributes to a make-shift memorial near the accident scene along Harford Road. Many parents choose to use this tragedy as a teachable moment for their kids.
"I was telling my sons and their friends this is very sad, but maybe this is a sign that he's telling each and every boy and girl not to touch alcohol," said Laurie Reese, mother.
Reese says her sons were close with Truluck.
"Right now my kids are going through a hard time with this," she said.
She's warning her kids about the dangers of alcohol--a lesson Truluck's mother says all parents need to teach.
"It's sad. It's just really sad, and I don't want to have to see another family go through this," said Kris Keys, victim's mother.
Truluck family will be taking visitors at Evans Chapel Funeral home on Wednesday from 2 to 4 p.m. A prayer service will be held Thursday at 11 a.m. at Saint Ursula's Church.
