Fatal Crash Shocks Town Harrison Teenagers Gather At Cafe To Comfort Each Other After Two Die

Rain spattered the pavement here Sunday, turning it into an oily mirror. It reflected a concrete sky.

The town wore the colors of mourning.

A car accident that killed two high school boys, put another on life support and injured a fourth was the hushed topic at the lunch counter, behind the bar, throughout the town.

The accident occurred Friday afternoon, at 3:30. Four boys piled into a 1983 Toyota Corolla after Kootenai High School had let out. The car rounded a curve along Ogara Road when its driver, Miles Jones, apparently lost control. The car went over an embankment and slammed into a tree.

Jones, 15, died that afternoon. Passenger Edward Leonard, 17, died Saturday of chest injuries. Another, 15-year-old Gabe Lamb, was treated and released from Benewah Community Hospital.

And on Sunday, a group of family and friends went to see 15-year-old Nicholas Perea - still at Kootenai Medical Center, still in critical condition.

The town waited. Jonelle Pearson cried.

“I had a crush on Miles,” the 16-year-old said. “But I never told him.”

She knows all four boys. She and Jones always made brownies for each other. On Thursday, he gave her some that were slightly overdone.

“They were like Miles,” she said, flashing a smile. “Unique.”

Leonard was the easy-going one. “I don’t see how anyone could ever be mad at Edward,” Pearson said.

His birthday was near hers, they would celebrate them together.

“And little Nick is the only one who can speak Spanish with me,” she said. “I hope he pulls through.”

And there’s Gabe Lamb, who people said was very bright. Always helpful. Though he fared the best, he’s very upset. He feels guilty that he’s OK, Pearson said. “But he shouldn’t feel that way.”

The girl sat at the counter at the Rose Cafe, eyes ringed with red. On Saturday night, 50 grieving kids filled this place, the hub of Harrison.

On Sunday, just a few were left. A few boys playing pool didn’t want to talk. Pearson watched. When she’d start to cry, one would put an arm around her.

One of the cafe’s owners, Cheryl Kirkpatrick, said some teens went to the site of the wreck and left flowers there.

“They had a small memorial,” she said.

Dozens of kids sought out the Rev. David Shanks. He’s the pastor for Harrison Community Baptist Church and runs a popular youth group.

“Everybody was at the pastor’s house. Everybody” said Gabe Lamb’s cousin, Jamie Kraus.

School officials prepared for today, when it would be their turn to give comfort. Seven teachers trained to deal with problems of sudden loss met Sunday, planning. Two others would arrive today from St. Maries.

“It’s day-to-day,” counselor Kevin Kincheloe said. “I guess everyone’s still in shock. I don’t know what to expect tomorrow.”

It’s especially hard here, in a town of about 200. Everyone sees the kids grow up, Kincheloe said.

Two of these boys, though, were somewhat new. Jones moved here from Seattle just this year.

“He was a skateboardin’ fanatic,” said Kincheloe, who loved skateboards himself when he was young. “I laughed when I registered him. It’s all dirt roads around here.”

Jones and the counselor had talked about building a half-pipe skate ramp.

Last year, Perea moved here from Lima, Peru, where his mother works at the American embassy.

Edward Leonard, the oldest, was an outdoorsman.

“Edward was a fishing fool,” Kincheloe remembered. “He lived to hunt and fish.”

All the boys became fast friends, despite their range in years.

When fellow students first heard about the accident, they didn’t think much of it, Pearson said. It was during the Harrison football team’s last home game.

“I didn’t cry,” said Pearson. “I thought they’d be all right. A little accident.”

But something was weird. Teachers wouldn’t tell what really happened. Pearson got worried and she ran to the Rose Cafe.

Then she found out that boy she had the crush on had died. And then she remembered something at the game.

“In the field, we saw rainbows when the helicopters went over,” Pearson said. She smiled again, briefly.

“I thought, ‘There’s Miles.”’

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