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Journal North: Home | Sports | Opinion | Obits | Entertainment
Monday, June 29, 2009
Hundreds Remember the Victims
By Phil Parker
Journal Staff Writer
Hundreds of friends, acquaintances and classmates gathered Sunday night at Cathedral Park to mourn the victims of a horrific car crash that killed four Santa Fe teenagers and left another in the hospital in critical condition. Sobs filled the air around the park's centerpiece statue, where small candles spelled out "RIP" as part of a makeshift memorial that grew quickly as more flowers, photos, lit candles and an assortment of items from candy to sneakers to a massive pink cross were placed at the statue's base.
At least one of the dead — 15-year-old Rose Simmons — had been in the park less than 24 hours before.
"I saw her here yesterday," said John Wheeless, 15, who attended Monte Del Sol Charter School with Simmons. "She had a nice voice. She was really gentle."
Simmons is the niece of New Mexico State Police public information officer Peter Olson, who said she had recently become a vegetarian because she couldn't stand the idea of killing animals.
"She was really passionate about human rights and treating people with dignity," Olson said. "She cared passionately about a lot of things. ... Everyone thinks their kids, nieces or nephews are above average, but she was an exceptional person by any standard."
Danny Anderman, 13, was standing solemnly with Wheeless and a few other teary-eyed Monte Del Sol classmates. Anderman said he was friends with Julian Martinez, 16, another of the teens who died. When he first heard news of the crash, Anderman said, "I thought it was a joke."
"He had a good attitude toward everything," he said of Martinez. "He was never mad; he was always just chill about things."
A throng of Santa Fe Prep students was gathered at the park, as well, remembering classmates Alyssa Trouw and Kate Klein.
"I've known Kate so long I can't even remember any more how long ago we met," said Kathryn Helin-Glick, 18. "She was smart and really funny, always making the people around her laugh. She was someone people would just want to be around."
Helin-Glick said the overriding emotion she felt throughout the day was disbelief.
"I got a call today from a mutual friend who I hadn't spoken to in years," she said. "We didn't even know what to say. I picked up the phone, and it was just silence for five minutes."
Will Brown, 18, said he had class with Klein. He described the conversations her friends had been having throughout the day.
"We've been telling stories of stuff that would seem simple to everyone else," he said. "Funny stuff from the library or things in class. They seem trivial, but they're important."
Santa Fe Prep Principal Jim Leonard described Trouw and Klein as "phenomenal kids" and "independent thinkers." Klein was an avid cross country runner and a "tremendous scholar," he said.
Leonard said Trouw was a leader of a group of students who performed community service work at St. Elizabeth's Shelter of Santa Fe.
"It's a horrible day for these families and for our state and for our school," Leonard said.
Sunday's crash was not the first time Trouw's family has endured the harshest consequences of drunken driving. A family friend, Lori Brown, told the Journal that Trouw's mother's parents were killed about 10 years ago by an intoxicated driver.
Alyssa Trouw's birthday was coming up, Brown said, on July 4. She and her parents had planned a trip to scout colleges in the Pacific Northwest.
"We are all devastated by this," Brown said. "It's a great loss for the family. She was a beautiful, smart, artistic, unique girl who had a bright future."
Avree Koffman, who was driving when the crash occurred and is its lone survivor, was set to start attending Monte Del Sol in the fall. Koffman is a member of youth activists groups, and on her biography page of the Earth Care International Web site she wrote: "I have had a kind of crazy childhood involving foster care, group homes and various treatment programs. Having gone through some really difficult times when I was young has made me a very strong person.
"I believe that you only have one life to live and you have to make the most of it."
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