Boys' deaths stun neighborhood
BAC'sMom wrote:
July 21, 2006, 7:24AM
Boys' deaths stun neighborhood
Late-night crash leaves 2 dead and 3 injured
By SARAH VIREN
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle
As word of the fatal late-night car wreck spread through their Spring neighborhood Thursday afternoon, three middle school boys collected nails and pieces of weather-worn two-by-fours and hammered together a cross.
Down the spine of it they wrote "Justin," for Justin Dieckman, a 12-year-old football player who police say took his father's truck in the wee hours Thursday, picked up some friends and crashed into a neighbor's oak tree.
Across the arms of the cross they wrote the name of Jonathan Gwin, also 12, an avid skateboarder, who sat in the front seat during the late-night ride and, like Justin, died at the scene.
Three others, ages 11 to 13, were injured while in the back seat of the Ford F-150, which slammed through neighbor Mike Weade's manicured lawn around 1:15 a.m. Thursday and wrapped around one of his spindly oaks "like a banana," he said.
"We didn't hear the wreck," Weade said Thursday while standing in his yard.
"What we heard first were the two girls screaming."
Madeline McClendon, 12, was taken by helicopter to Memorial Hermann Hospital in critical condition, police said.
Hospital officials listed her in fair condition Thursday afternoon.
Two others, 11-year-old Peter Vanderveen and 13-year-old Kara Vanderveen, were treated and released, according to the Precinct 4 Harris County Constable's office, which is investigating the wreck.
Officers believe all the children were wearing seat belts, said Lt. David Blankenship.
The crash took down two pine trees, knocked the oak to its side and left deep muddy grooves in the corner lot.
Its effects tore through the shady Northampton neighborhood with a similar force.
"They were all good kids," said Lauri Korenek, mother of Bradley, 12, who along with friends Cory Willey, 13, and Clint Crouch, 12, visited the crash site to plant their cross Thursday afternoon.
"The only thing to learn from this is that all kids think nothing bad will happen."
The boys, who attended Hildebrandt Intermediate School with the two victims, planted their makeshift memorial in the grass near a stop sign less than 10 feet from the crash site.
Beside it was a row of teddy bears and bouquets of roses wilting in the afternoon heat.
Within the subdivision, where deed restrictions protect the lines of oaks and pine trees, news of the crash spread by e-mail, text message and phone call, from the young to the old. Even those like Weade, who didn't know the victims, felt the effect.
His 15-year-old daughter just started taking driver's education.
"What a wake-up call," he said.
"She said (the crash) was like watching one of those movies in driver's ed."
Crashes among drivers as young as Dieckman are rare, but not unheard-of, according to national fatality statistics.
In 2004, drivers 15 years or younger were involved in 155 fatal wrecks, data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration shows.
Nearly one-third of those drivers were speeding.
Officers are still investigating the cause of the wreck, Blankenship said, including the speed of the truck when it hit the trees.
Officers believe Dieckman snuck out of his parents' house sometime late Wednesday night or early Thursday morning, and picked up his friends for a ride. The three boys were up front and the girls in the back of the extended-cab truck, police said.
The truck was heading westbound on West Rayford Road when it swerved onto the shoulder and into Weade's corner lot.
The Dieckmans were asleep and woke to learn of the crash, according to police.
They and other parents of the passengers declined to comment for this story.
"It is awful," Blankenship said.
"It is terrible for the parents to find this out."
Ryan Holak, a firefighter with the nearby Klein Volunteer Fire Department and friend of the Gwin family, said his unit responded to the late-night crash but he wasn't called out. He learned over breakfast, through a text message, that his friend was one of the victims.
Visiting the crash site Thursday, the 19-year-old said he didn't think stricter curfew or driving laws could have prevented the deaths.
Harris County's curfew requires children younger than 17 to be off the streets from midnight to 6 a.m.
"They weren't up to any trouble," Holak said. "They weren't troublemakers. They were just being kids."
JP&KJMOM replied: That is tragic. 
MommyToAshley replied:
My heart just breaks for those parents. It's senseless that this happened. But, I remember that age and I think kids really do believe that stuff like that happens to other people.
Nina J replied: Thats just awful, the poor kids and there families
I agree with DeeDee, I think at that age you just think 'It won't happen to me' 
mamasbigbaby replied: That is tragic.Very. I feel for the nieborhood.
TheOaf66 replied: it just scares me to read stories like this 
MichaelsMommy replied: OMG how horrible. I'm hiding my keys everynight for now on.. you just never know..
C&K*s Mommie replied: How sad.  Prayers for the families of those that were killed, and those whose children are still in the hospital.
ashtonsmama replied:
OMG
How horrible. I am so sorry for those families...prayers are definitely in order for them...
CantWait replied: Tragic indeed, but I have a total different persepective on this.
I don't think I could imagine a 12 year old (pretty much Robbie's age) stealing dad's car. What was he thinking. This is something that a 15 year old would do yes, but not 12. I don't believe for a second that these kids weren't normally trouble makers.
My heart goes out to the families.
My2Beauties replied: P&PTs for the families involved! How tragic!
ZandersMama replied: omg thats so terrifying!
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