Funeral for McConnell father and sons today

Loved ones say last goodbyes to dad, sons killed in crash

By Mark Jenkins, Reporter
Last Updated: Monday, August 09, 2010 12:49 PM

OVIEDO
Family and friends will say their final goodbyes Monday to an Orlando man and his three sons, who were all killed in a car crash with a suspected drunk driver.

The funeral service for Roy McConnell, Jr., and his sons -- Roy III, Nathan and Kelly -- is scheduled for 2 p.m. at the First Carillon United Methodist Church, in Oviedo.

The Aug. 1 crash left four women without their husbands and boyfriend, two young children without a father, and countless friends coping with the loss.

The McConnells were on a family vacation, when Roy and his sons left their loved ones at home to go to a movie.
read more here
Loved ones say last goodbyes to dad sons killed in crash

Hundreds arrive at memorial for father and 3 sons killed in crash


Updated: 13 minutes ago
A steady stream of friends and family of the four McConnell men killed in a St. Petersburg crash earlier this month are filing into University Carillon United Methodist Church for the 2 p.m. memorial service.

Driver in Toyota crash case freed after new evidence

Driver in Toyota crash case freed as prosecutors decide against pursuing a new trial
By Peter Whoriskey
The driver of a Toyota Camry that fatally careened into another family's car was freed from an eight-year prison term on Thursday, after the judge and prosecutors weighed new evidence that the accident might have been caused by defects in the vehicle.

Once the judge called for a new trial for Koua Fong Lee, 32, prosecutors opted against trying him again.

"I believe it is time to bring this very tragic situation to a close," Ramsey County Attorney Susan Gaertner said. "He will not face further prosecution with the very sad events of June 10, 2006."
read more here
Driver in Toyota crash case freed

McConnell widows speak of relatives killed in St. Petersburg crash

McConnell widows speak of relatives killed in St. Petersburg crash
'These men were wonderful beautiful people.'

Anais McConnell, Amy McConnell and Sandie McConnell stand together Tuesday, August 3, in Amy's front yard. (RED HUBER, ORLANDO SENTINEL)

By Bianca Prieto, Susan Jacobson and Walter Pacheco, Orlando Sentinel

12:27 p.m. EDT, August 3, 2010

Lisa Raybern let out a loud sob that conveyed the heartbreak of a mother who has lost her children.

On Sunday a suspected drunken driver ran a red light in St. Petersburg and plowed into the car driven by her ex-husband, Elroy "Roy" McConnell, killing him and his three sons instantly.

"All these men were wonderful, beautiful people," Raybern said while holding her 4-month-old grandson, Elroy "Roy" McConnell IV.

Raybern was among a large group of friends and family, including the three widows and girlfriend of the dead men, who gathered at the McConnell family home in east Orange County this morning.

Roy McConnell, 51, sons Nathan, 24, and Kelly, 19, both of Orlando; and Elroy "Roy" McConnell III, 28, of Pineville, La., were killed after a speeding car crashed into their Ford Fusion while the McConnell clan was on a beach vacation on the Gulf Coast, police said.


Family members said they were grieving, but not vengeful, and that is the message they wanted to impart today.

"This drunk driver didn't just steal [Roy McConnell's] life from him, but from his friends and family," family member Rebecca Watson said in a tearful speech. "I hope and pray that the next time you go drinking and driving, you stop to think about this tragedy."
read more here
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/os-four-dead-st-pete-family-20100803,0,4723160.story

Crash victim's family and friends clean road as memorial to life lived

Wellington crash victim's friends to clean up roadside near site of collision with polo mogul

By Jason Schultz, The Palm Beach Post

9:46 a.m. EDT, July 22, 2010


Friends of Scott Patrick Wilson will come from far away this weekend to the site where his car was hurled into a canal following a violent collision with a Bentley driven by polo mogul John Goodman.

At least 50 people are expected to show up at 9 a.m. Saturday to clean trash from the stretch of Lake Worth Road at 120th Avenue where Wilson drowned after the Feb. 12 crash.

"It's a way of remembering Scott in a positive way," said Lili Wilson, his mother.

Wilson's father, William, said friends of Wilson's are coming from as far away as New York City and Washington, D.C., to participate.
go here for more
Wellington crash victim

At least 10 dead following multi vehicle crash on Interstate 65

At least 10 people were killed in a wreck on Interstate 65 in Kentucky this morning, a spokesman for the Kentucky State Police said. FULL STORY

Thruway crash kills N. Tonawanda officer set to deploy to Iraq

Thruway crash kills N. Tonawanda officer set to deploy to Iraq
By Dan Herbeck and Jay Tokasz
NEWS STAFF REPORTERS
December 27, 2009

An Army lieutenant from North Tonawanda who expected to be deployed to Iraq within a few months was killed Saturday morning in a car crash on the Thruway in Chautauqua County.

Jordan A. Bunker, 24, a University at Buffalo graduate who was a former co-captain of the North Tonawanda High School football team, died after he lost control of the car at about 10:10 a. m. and hit a guardrail in the Town of Hanover.

State police said Bunker’s girlfriend — Audrey Brackett, 25, of Fort Knox, Ky. — was taken to Lake Shore Hospital in Irving for treatment of injuries that were not life-threatening.

Bunker, a second lieutenant stationed at Fort Knox, had spent Christmas week in North Tonawanda, visiting family and friends, according to his father, Daniel Bunker of North Tonawanda.

“I’ve never seen him happier in his entire life. I think it was because he was in love with [Brackett],” Bunker said. “Jordan arrived here on [Dec. 19] and had the most wonderful week visiting with his family and friends. There were about 70 people who stopped by to see him Wednesday night. On Christmas night, I never saw him stop smiling.”

“He joined the Army last year because the job market here isn’t so good,” Bunker said. “He made a three-year commitment. He was in an armored unit. He told me he expected to be sent to the Middle East and was willing to take that risk to serve his country. My son was a great kid. . . . He touched a lot of lives.”

read more here

http://www.buffalonews.com/cityregion/otherwny/story/905864.html?imw=Y

Victim in fiery crash arrested hours before for DUI

Victim in fiery crash arrested hours before for DUI
By KOMO Staff SEATAC, Wash. -- A brother, his sister and their good friend were killed when a speeding SUV crashed and caught fire early Wednesday.

Ryan Savage, 30, and his sister Erika Savage, 24, grew up together and were both killed when the Lincoln Navigator crashed about 3:15 a.m.

Just hours before the crash, police in Des Moines had arrested Erika for allegedly driving under the influence and say she was too drunk to even blow into a breathalyzer.
read more here
http://www.komonews.com/news/local/60668582.html

Soldier back from Iraq, father dies on way to meet him

Father of soldier returning from Iraq killed
(AP) – 4 hours ago

FORT CARSON, Colo. — A soldier returning home from Iraq received grim news as soon as he arrived — his father died in a car crash while en route to greet him.
read more here
Father of soldier returning from Iraq killed

Five bodies pulled from charred wreckage after I-5 crash in CA

Five bodies pulled from charred wreckage after I-5 crash

Witnesses say the SUV blew a tire before skidding off I-5, slamming into a light pole and rolling down an embankment in O.C. The ensuing fire was so fierce witnesses couldn't get near to help.

By Paloma Esquivel and My-Thuan Tran
August 5, 2009
Five people were killed Tuesday morning when a sport utility vehicle skidded off Interstate 5, rolled down an embankment and burst into flames, authorities said.

Witnesses to the Mission Viejo crash said they ran down the embankment to try to help, but the blaze forced them back.

The Orange County coroner's office said the victims were a 37-year-old man, a 33-year-old woman and three other females whose ages were not released.
read more here
Five bodies pulled from charred wreckage

Police Delve Into Mind-Set of Drunken Woman Whose Crash Killed Eight

Police Delve Into Mind-Set of Drunken Woman Whose Crash Killed Eight

By LISA W. FODERARO and AL BAKER
Published: August 5, 2009

She was a warm, capable executive for Cablevision for more than decade, a working mother with two handsome children and a well-kept home in West Babylon, N.Y., where neighbors said she always greeted them with a wave.

On the weekend of July 25 and 26, when Diane Schuler and her husband, Daniel, were at a lakefront campground in Sullivan County with their children and three nieces, nothing seemed amiss. Fellow campers who have known the family for years detected no signs of conflict.

“We saw them heading down to the beach with their swim tubes and gear,” said Sharon Gregor, whose campsite was near the Schulers’. “At this campground if someone sneezes two campsites down from us, I say, ‘Bless you.’ It’s very quiet up here. You would hear something.”

But between leaving the campground at 9:30 a.m. on Sunday and 1:30 that afternoon, something went drastically awry in the life of Diane Schuler.

Investigators revealed Tuesday that she had been drunk and high on marijuana as she drove a minivan 1.7 miles in the wrong direction on the Taconic State Parkway in Westchester County. She finally collided head-on with a Chevrolet TrailBlazer in one of the worst crashes in the New York region in memory.

She ended up taking her own life and the lives of seven others: her 2-year-old daughter Erin, her three nieces and three men from Yonkers in the S.U.V.
read more here
Police Delve Into Mind-Set of Drunken Woman Whose Crash Killed Eight

Double tragedy for family after mom's suicide, daughter dies in car crash

Woman dies rushing to family emergency
SEDRO-WOOLLEY — The tragedy of a Concrete woman's suicide took another heartbreaking turn Monday when her 26-year-old daughter died in a head-on collision while rushing to her mother's side.

By Tahlia Ganser

Skagit Valley Herald

SEDRO-WOOLLEY — The tragedy of a Concrete woman's suicide took another heartbreaking turn Monday when her 26-year-old daughter died in a head-on collision while rushing to her mother's side.

Stefanie A. Heggie of Concrete died when she tried to pass a vehicle while driving east on Highway 20 about two miles east of Sedro-Woolley and struck two large trucks coming in the other direction. Neither truck driver was injured in the accident.

The accident left debris scattered across the highway, which was closed for more than five hours as State Patrol detectives investigated the scene.

Part of Heggie's orange 2008 Kia Spectra looked like what a state trooper at the scene called "a crinkled piece of aluminum foil" on the road. Chunks of glass and plastic were strewn on the highway, along with tires ripped from vehicles in the collision.

At about 10 a.m. Heggie's 44-year-old mother, of Concrete, was apparently in the Rockport area and sent a text message to a Skagit County sheriff's deputy and acquaintance about her suicidal thoughts, said Chief Criminal Deputy Will Reichardt. The deputy started driving to see her right away, but found her dead when he arrived, Reichardt said.

read more here

Woman dies rushing to family emergency

Bliss Soldier Pleads Guilty On Intoxicated Manslaughter Charge

Bliss Soldier Pleads Guilty On Intoxicated Manslaughter Charge
KFOXtv.com
Monica Balderrama-KFOX News Reporter
Posted: 2:03 pm MDT July 20, 2009
Updated: 3:04 pm MDT July 20, 2009

EL PASO, Texas -- The Fort Bliss soldier accused of killing a 19-year-old Burgess graduate while drinking and driving pleaded guilty on Monday during his intoxicated manslaughter trial. The trial moved forward to the punishment phase where the jury will decide the soldier's fate.

Staff Sgt. Edison Bayas, 37, waived his right to a jury trial when he pleaded guilty Monday morning. But the jury still has to decide his punishment, which could range from two to 20 years in prison.

As KFOX reported in December 2007, 19-year-old Valerie Talamantes was stopped at a red light on Montana and Hawkins and Bayas allegedly came barreling through and crashed into the back of Talamantes' car.
click link for the rest

Was he self-medicating? Does he have PTSD? Your guess is as good as mine. The outcome is a soldier is facing jail and a young woman is now dead. A family is grieving while another family must be trying to come to terms with what happened. Could it have been avoided?

Police seek van in death of disabled Iraq vet

Police seek van in death of disabled Iraq vet

The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Jul 14, 2009 15:29:34 EDT

FRAMINGHAM, Mass. — Massachusetts State Police are asking for the public’s help in tracking down a van they say may have been involved in an accident that killed a disabled Iraq war veteran.

Police say the blue, older-model passenger van was seen on Interstate 93 south in Andover on Friday at about the time a Pontiac Sunbird lost control and rolled over, killing 23-year-old passenger Mark Ecker II of East Longmeadow.

Ecker was a sergeant in the Army when he was injured in February 2007 by an explosive hidden in a wall in Ramadi, Iraq. Both his legs were amputated and he spent seven months learning how to walk on prosthetics.

The driver of the car suffered minor injuries.

Ecker’s military dog tags were lost in the crash, but recovered by a volunteer and returned to his family.
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/07/ap_vet_killed_van_071409/

Marine's wife, daughter die in Michigan crash

Marine's wife, daughter die in Michigan crash
The Associated Press
Posted: 07/11/2009 09:46:09 AM PDT
Updated: 07/11/2009 01:28:05 PM PDT


BLENDON TOWNSHIP, Mich.—The wife and new daughter of a Marine who was away at basic training in San Diego when the child was born were killed in a crash before he had a chance to meet the infant.
Morgan DeHaan, 19, and 4-week-old Hannah died following the crash Thursday in Ottawa County's Blendon Township, about 12 miles southwest of Grand Rapids. Another daughter, 21-month-old Jordyn, was injured.

Relatives were keeping vigil at a hospital for Jordyn, who was expected to recover.
read more here
Marines wife and daughter killed in car crash

Please pray for the family and for Jordyn's recovery.

Suffolk cop killed in crash was Marine veteran

Suffolk cop killed in crash was Marine veteran
BY MARTIN C. EVANS AND ZACHARY R. DOWDY martin.evans@newsday.com zachary.dowdy@newsday.com
10:43 PM EDT, June 22, 2009


Seven-year veteran Suffolk police Officer Robert Bowen was a battle-tested and decorated veteran of the Iraq war, bringing experience in one of the nation's most revered fighting forces -- the Marines -- to his patrols of Suffolk County, where his superiors said he also served with distinction.

"He was just a down-to-earth nice guy who did a good job for us," said Suffolk Deputy Police Chief Patrick Cuff, who was Bowen's commanding officer at the Third Precinct in Bay Shore until last Friday when Cuff was promoted. "And he loved the Marines."

Suffolk County Sheriff's Department Chief of Staff Michael Sharkey said Bowen, 34, of Ronkonkoma, died early Monday when he lost control of his car, which clipped the rear of another vehicle, struck a guardrail and overturned.
go here for more
Suffolk cop killed in crash was Marine veteran

Marine's dog returned to family after deadly crash

Crash Victim's Dog Reunited With Family One Week Later
April 20, 2009

FREEDOM TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- The family of a Centre County Marine killed in a crash last week was comforted by the safe return of their loved one's dog.

The 1-year-old German shepherd was riding in the car with his owner, Sgt. Hamilton Woodruff, last Monday when Woodruff was killed in a crash in Freedom Township.

Woodruff's dog, Apollo, was found Monday less than 1/4 mile from the crash site.
go here for the rest
http://www.wjactv.com/courierexpress/19229525/detail.html

Capt. Bierwiler's widow takes comfort in her husband's devotion

Widow of Hernando sheriff's Capt. Bierwiler takes comfort in her husband's devotion
By Dan DeWitt, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Thursday, April 2, 2009
SPRING HILL — Angie Bierwiler turned on the television 11 years ago when she first heard that Hank Earl Carr was holed up in a Hernando County convenience store with a hostage after killing his girlfriend's son and three law enforcement officers.

"I see Scott's patrol car pull right up in front of the store,'' she said.

Scott was her husband, Scott Bierwiler, 42, a Hernando sheriff's sergeant. But the situation did not worry her.

"I guess that I felt like everyone else did, that he was going to handle it,'' Mrs. Bierwiler, 40, said. "He just stood out there with a notepad and a cigarette hanging out of his mouth and organized the whole county.''

That calm air of authority made Bierwiler seem perfect for the job he'd always wanted and seemed likely to assume one day — Hernando County sheriff.

It also made his death even more shocking.

Bierwiler, by then a captain, finally encountered circumstances he couldn't control at 5:45 a.m. on Feb. 19, just minutes after kissing his sleeping wife on the forehead and leaving their home in a quiet gated community.

On an otherwise empty, two-lane highway, his unmarked Ford was struck head-on by an SUV that veered into his lane. The Florida Highway Patrol has not yet completed its investigation or decided whether to charge the SUV's driver, 16-year-old Andrew Morris.
go here for more
Widow of Hernando sheriff's Capt. Bierwiler takes comfort in her husband's devotion

A "prank" gone bad teens leave victim to die

'They left my son there to die'
Watch the story
Investigators say Shawn Ausbun was on his way home from work when an SUV full of seven teenage boys fleeing a prank ran a stop sign and slammed into his car and everyone in the vehicle ran off.

"Basically, these kids were out to do a prank and it didn't go very well, Troyer said. "When they took off they left at a high rate of speed and went through an intersection and a stop (sign) and T-boned another car, killing the driver at the scene."

The crash killed 21-year-old Shawn Ausbun, who was driving home after working a double-shift at Best Buy.

"He was a good kid, good boy, just finding his way," said Shawn's mother, Kristy Golden.

One teen suffered minor injuries in the crash. The others ran away, and Troyer said the driver, in an attempt to cover up his involvement in the crash, falsely reported the car had been stolen. click links above for more

I-4 Fatal crash came after shots fired at passing cars

Seminole County sheriff Don Eslinger (right) inspects the car after a crash split it in two. (Red Huber, Orlando Sentinel)

Police suspect road rage was factor in fatal crash
Dec 08, 2008 08:46
Walter Pacheco | Sentinel Staff Writer
Updated: 24 minutes ago
Deputies in Seminole County think road rage could be the cause of an accident that ended when a driver crashed into a pole, splitting it in half and killing a passenger.

Lt. James Clark said one of the occupants in the crashed vehicle was firing a weapon through the sunroof at passing cars on Interstate 4, near Lake Mary Boulevard sometime around 3:30 a.m.

Deputies responded to I-4 and followed the car. "Deputies tried to stop the vehicle, but it fled," Clark said. "The car was speeding at an excess of 100 mph before it lost control and struck a center median."

The car then spun out of control, striking a tree and wooden electric pole at West 25th Street and Elm Avenue in Sanford
click link above for more

4 Pacific Union College students killed in crash

4 College Students Killed In Crash
Quartet from Pacific Union College are killed late Saturday night when their speeding car skids out of control and collides with a pickup truck north of St. Helena. Demian Bulwa

15:00 PST NAPA -- -- Four students at Pacific Union College, a Christian liberal arts school in the Napa Valley, were killed late Saturday night when their speeding car skidded out of control and collided with a pickup truck north of St. Helena and just a few miles south of their campus in Angwin, California Highway Patrol officials said.

The Napa County coroner's office today identified the victims as Luke Kotazo Nishikawa, 22; Boaz Joshua Pak, 20; Chon Shin, 20; and Simon Cholin Son, 19.
click link for more

NOTE: A reader posted comment that "Chon Shin" has wrong spelling. It should be Chong Shin.