Students Hold Vigil For Killed Classmate
JUSTIN (CBSDFW.COM) - A beloved teenager is being remembered Wednesday at Northwest High School in Justin. Students and family members gathered at a special service for 16-year-old Katelyn ShyAnn Hooper, who died Monday night in a violent car crash.
The teen and her friend, 16-year-old classmate Brianna Christensen, had just left the campus and were heading home when the wreck happened. Authorities said that a pickup truck driver lost control of her vehicle along FM 156 in far north Fort Worth and veered into oncoming traffic, striking the car that Hooper was driving.
Hooper died from her injuries. Christensen is now in the hospital, fighting for her life. The truck driver, identified as 31-year-old April Seleska of Denton, was also in the hospital with serious injuries, but has since been released. The crash is still under investigation.
The teens were popular basketball players and trying out for track and field. This has been a tough week for their fellow students.
Marley Floyd was Hooper's best friend. She has dozens of photographs and videos of them laughing together. "We would make jokes and stuff and say we are each other's other half," Floyd recalled. "She would always be like, 'I swear we are the same person.' We were sisters. We really were."
"It's hard to understand why this happens," said Grant Bowles, Hooper's uncle, on Tuesday. "There is no answer for it. We have a God that has faced everything."
A prayer vigil was held Wednesday morning before classes began at Northwest High School. The campus also has counselors on hand for those who need to talk about the tragedy. Students arrived at the vigil wearing a sea of orange -- not one of the school's colors, but one of Hooper's favorites.
"It's definitely devastating. It's hard for everyone," said student Brooklyn Crooks at the Wednesday morning vigil.
Principal Jason Childress said that Hooper was the epitome of what you would want in a high school student. "Very involved, positive, polite, friendly," he said. "You can look at her Twitter and you can tell a lot about a kid by their Twitter feed, and just positivity all over the place."
Another prayer vigil is planned for Wednesday night at Aurora Baptist Church. The Northwest High School boys basketball team also plays on Wednesday night and has dedicated the game to the two girls.
Latest News:
Top Trending:
- Azle Residents Take Quake Concerns To Austin
- Cowboys' Romo Update: Complication In Back Surgery
- TCU Students Demand Higher Quality Toilet Paper
- Norovirus May Have Sickened Hundreds At School
- McKinney Native Busts Through Sochi Hotel Door
- PHOTOS: Your Pet Pictures
