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  • Semaj Coleman Death, Norfolk, Virginia: Norfolk State Senior Dies in Accidental Shooting, Man Charged💔

    Semaj Coleman was getting close to finishing her degree at Norfolk State University. She was 22. On Saturday night, Oct. 24, she was shot in a parking lot in Norfolk, Virginia, and she later died from her injuries.

    Police got the call around 11:45 p.m. A woman had arrived at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital with a gunshot wound that threatened her life. That woman was Coleman.

    The Norfolk Police Department says the shooting happened in a parking lot in the 5700 block of East Virginia Beach Boulevard. Early findings from investigators point to an accident.

    Officers took a man into custody at the scene. He is Matthew B. Croslin, 23, of Newport News. He is charged with involuntary manslaughter and reckless handling of a firearm, and he is being held at the Norfolk City Jail with no bond. The charges are allegations, and the case will now move through the courts. Police say the investigation is still open.

    Coleman was from Mollusk, in Lancaster County, on Virginia’s Northern Neck. At Norfolk State she was a senior studying health services management. That is the field she planned to work in.

    She took part in the school’s Spartans Promise to Persist with Purpose program. She had also been inducted into the National Association for Allied Health Professionals not long ago.

    Her family posted a message online saying they are still struggling to take in her sudden death. They thanked people for the messages, prayers and phone calls. They also asked everyone to keep her mother, Melody, in their thoughts. Coleman was a daughter, a sister, a granddaughter, a niece and a friend.

    Norfolk State sent its condolences to her family, friends and classmates. The school says counseling and support services are open to students, faculty and staff. It also says there is no known threat to the campus.

  • Rebecca Hunt, Rockwall, Texas: School Founder’s Final Sermon Note Was “A Call to Die”💔

    Rebecca Hunt kept a journal for sermon notes. A student gave it to her as a birthday gift. The last message she reportedly wrote down in it was David Nasser’s sermon, “A Call to Die.”

    Rebecca, a wife, a mother of five and the founder of Providence Academy, has died in Rockwall, Texas. She was reportedly in her 40s. Her death was sudden. Family, friends, fellow church members, teachers and a lot of local families are hurting this week.

    The journal came from a student named Felicity. Rebecca treasured it. She used it to write down lessons from sermons at Lakepointe Church, and she kept at it.

    A fellow member of the Christian community shared an emotional tribute about her. It says Rebecca went through a deep spiritual change earlier in her life. That change made her more committed to following Jesus Christ. She built her life around faith and serving others.

    That faith led straight to the classroom. In 2009, Rebecca started Providence Academy, a classical Christian school in Rockwall County. It began with a mother who wanted her daughter to get a Christ-centered education. She didn’t wait for someone else to offer one. She built it herself.

    Over the years, the school has shaped the lives of many students and families. Rebecca cared about kids’ hearts and minds, and about the spiritual base under both. She set up a school rooted in biblical principles and ran it that way.

    At home, she was the wife of Zachary Hunt and the mother of five children. Family stayed at the center of her life.

    Now the sermon title in that journal means something different to the people who loved her.

    Condolences go out to the Hunt family and to the Providence Academy students, teachers and parents who are grieving. Rest in peace, Rebecca Hunt. Your legacy will not be forgotten.

  • Colton Boyd Death, Springdale, Newfoundland and Labrador: Hockey Family Raises Sticks for Young Player Gone Too Soon💔

    The Springdale District Minor Hockey Association had a message for Grant, Valerie and their family. It was short, and it was hard to read. Colton Boyd, a young player in the Springdale hockey community, has died.

    “Gone far too soon, but forever part of the hockey family.” That line sits at the center of the tribute. The association said it understands the pain of losing a child, and it admitted that words can’t take that pain away.

    It also said something folks outside hockey might not get right away. Hockey, the association wrote, is more than a game. It’s a family.

    If you’ve spent time around a small-town rink, you know why. Kids show up for practices, games and tournaments. Moms and dads sit in the same stands week after week. Coaches and volunteers keep the whole thing running. After a while, those people know each other pretty well.

    Colton was part of that circle. The association called him a young player and a young life lost too soon. It did not share his age, his team or his position, and those details haven’t been made public.

    Then came a call every hockey person will understand. “Sticks out for a young life gone too soon.” In hockey, that’s a quiet way to show respect. Teammates and coaches can do it together without saying much at all.

    The statement does not say how Colton died. It gives no cause and no circumstances.

    For his teammates, this may be the first time they’ve lost someone close. Some will want to talk about him. Others will want to sit quietly with friends. The people around them can give them room to do either.

    The message ended the way it began, with love. “Rest easy, Colton. You will never be forgotten.” To Grant, Valerie and the whole Boyd family, the Springdale hockey community is saying one thing: you’re not alone.

  • Hendrickson, Swampy Pass, Colorado: Father and two teenage sons killed in Saturday plane crash💔

    A dad and his two teenage sons died Saturday when their small plane went down in the Colorado mountains. Mark Hendrickson was 46. His sons, Alan and Chase, were 15 and 13. The family lived in Rifle.

    Dispatchers got the 911 call around 9:20 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 24. Crews rushed to a remote wilderness area near Swampy Pass in Gunnison County, on Colorado’s Western Slope. The ground out there is rough. Getting to the wreck took effort.

    When rescuers finally reached the site, there was nothing they could do. All three people on the plane were dead.

    On Sunday, the Gunnison County Coroner’s Office named them. Family members then confirmed on social media that the three were a father and his two sons.

    The National Transportation Safety Board says the aircraft was a Piper PA-28-235. It hit mountain terrain at about 8:11 a.m. The call to 911 came in roughly an hour later.

    The Hendrickson family has thanked the public for its respect, compassion and support. They called what happened a devastating tragedy.

    The Gunnison County Sheriff’s Office, the NTSB and the U.S. Forest Service are all looking into the crash. Nobody has said what brought the plane down. What happened in the minutes before it hit the mountain is still unknown, and investigators say they will release more once they have it.

    Gunnison County sent its deepest condolences to the Hendrickson family.

  • Jarmelo Vertudez Death, Cypress, Texas: Teen Thrown From Rolling SUV, Pronounced Dead by 4:41 a.m.💔

    Jarmelo Vertudez was riding in a blue Lincoln Aviator when it started to roll. He was thrown out of the SUV on a dark Cypress road just after midnight Saturday. A few hours later, he was dead.

    It happened around 12:19 a.m. in the 20200 block of Tuckerton Road, in Harris County. Deputies say the Lincoln was heading east in the outside lane. Griffin Trebec was behind the wheel, and five passengers, all between 16 and 18, were inside. A witness told investigators the SUV was going at a high rate of speed.

    In the inside lane ahead was a blue 2011 Honda Accord. It carried a driver and two 16-year-old passengers. As the Lincoln came up from behind, the Honda moved over to change lanes.

    The Lincoln hit the back passenger side of the Honda. The Honda was knocked off the road and into a tree. The Lincoln spun counterclockwise and rolled over and over. Somewhere in those rolls, Vertudez was thrown out.

    Cy-Fair EMS called in a LifeFlight helicopter for him. He was flown to Memorial Hermann Downtown in Houston. Doctors pronounced him dead at 4:41 a.m.

    Four other people in the Lincoln were hurt. They were taken to Memorial Hermann Cypress and Memorial Hermann Katy, and none of their injuries were life-threatening. Trebec was taken to the Katy hospital. The Honda driver stayed at the scene, helped investigators and showed no signs of being intoxicated. No one has said how the Honda driver or the two teens with him are doing.

    Deputies say Trebec showed signs of intoxication. So far, no charges or citations have been announced, and no test results have been made public. The Harris County Vehicular Crimes Division is still working to find out exactly what caused the crash.

    Details about Vertudez himself, including his exact age, his family and any funeral plans, have not been released.

  • Logan Denning Death, Corsica, South Dakota: Husband and Father Dies in Car Crash at 42, Trojans Call Him “One of One”💔

    Logan Denning died Saturday after a car accident near Corsica, South Dakota. He was 42.

    An online obituary confirms his age, the day he died, and the cause. Not much else has come out about the crash. Details like what happened on the road, and who else may have been involved, have not been made public.

    Those who knew him are talking about the kind of man he was. A tribute shared by people close to him called him a loving husband, father, son, brother, uncle, cousin, and dear friend. That’s a long list, and every part of it counted.

    The tribute also had a phrase that stood out: “One of One.” In plain terms, there was nobody else like him. The people who wrote it say they feel that loss, and they asked others to hold on to the time they spent with him.

    Denning’s roots run through the Corsica-Stickney school community. The line that sums it up is “Once a Trojan, Always a Trojan.” For former classmates and friends, being a Trojan is something that sticks with you long after graduation.

    In a small town, that kind of tie matters. People who grew up together, played together, and sat in the same gym on Friday nights tend to show up for each other when something goes wrong. This week, that’s what the Trojan community is doing.

    Funeral services have not been set. They are still pending. Until the family shares more, friends and former classmates are leaning on the words they’ve already put out there.

  • Jared Snow Death, Washington, D.C.: Original Abadá Capoeira Board Member Dies Suddenly After Nearly 19 Years💔

    Jared “Baiacu” Snow has died, and the Abadá Capoeira DC community is hurting. The news came without warning. Members say they are still trying to find the right words.

    Snow was one of the group’s original board members. He was there in the earliest days, when the organization was just getting started. He stayed for nearly 19 years.

    People who knew him say he did a lot more than show up for class. He helped build the base the group still stands on: friendship, discipline, culture, and a shared love for capoeira.

    Over the years, he watched the group grow. He also helped build the friendships that made it feel like more than a place to learn a martial art.

    Members describe Abadá Capoeira DC as a family. People come in, make friends that last, learn from each other, and grow through a culture they share. Snow was a big part of that, and the bonds he helped form are still holding people together.

    Capoeira is played in a roda, a circle where people gather to play, sing, and show their art. His community can’t stand in that circle with him anymore. But they say what he and the other founders started will pass on to the people who come next.

    The group put out a tribute, and it was short on fancy words. It said the loss was too sudden and too painful to describe. Still, one line stood out: “You were there at the beginning. You will always be part of our story.”

  • Juan Pizano, Reeves County, Texas: Truck Crosses Center Line, Two Drivers Dead After 2 A.M. Crash💔

    Juan Jose Pizano was driving west on County Road 302 in Reeves County, Texas, around 2 a.m. Friday. He was 48. He was behind the wheel of a Freightliner tractor-truck pulling a trailer, and he was a long way from home.

    Pizano lived in Joshua, in North Texas. Out here in West Texas, that road is a place where big rigs roll through at all hours. At 2 a.m. there’s not much else on it.

    Coming the other way was Laydeker Chivas, 42, of Odessa. He was driving east in his own Freightliner, also hauling a trailer. Two men, two trucks, one two-lane road, and each of them heading straight toward the other.

    The Texas Department of Public Safety says Pizano’s truck crossed the center line in a marked no-passing zone. That put him in the eastbound lane, on the wrong side of the road. The two rigs hit head-on.

    The crash was hard enough to throw both men out of their cabs. Investigators noted that neither driver appeared to be wearing a seat belt. Both men had fatal injuries.

    They were pronounced dead at the scene. Troopers have not said how long the road stayed closed or who got there first.

    Here’s what DPS has not said: why the westbound truck left its lane. Investigators haven’t pointed to speed, sleep, or anything else. The case is still open.

    So for now, the facts come down to a few lines. A truck from Joshua crossed a line it was told not to cross. A truck from Odessa was in the lane it was supposed to be in. Neither driver made it off that stretch of Reeves County road.

  • Pamela Cairos, Peotone, Illinois: Two Women Died One Minute Apart in Semi Crash💔

    Pamela Cairos was pronounced dead at 3:45 p.m. on Friday. One minute later, at 3:46, Virginia Hight was pronounced dead too. The two women died after a crash involving a semi truck and a passenger vehicle in Peotone Township, Illinois.

    Cairos was 66 and lived in Orland Hills. Hight was 87 and lived in Palos Heights. Both towns sit in Cook County, in the southwest suburbs of Chicago. On Friday afternoon, both women ended up on a road in Will County, and neither one went home.

    The crash happened at the corner of Wilmington-Peotone Road and Center Road. It’s a rural crossing in Peotone Township, a good drive south of where either woman lived. A semi truck and a passenger vehicle were involved.

    Deputies from the Will County Sheriff’s Office were sent to the scene that afternoon. They closed the roads around the intersection while they looked over the wreck and tried to piece together what happened.

    The Will County Coroner’s Office named the women on Saturday. That’s how their families, and everyone else, learned who they were.

    Much of the story is still blank. Officials have not said which vehicle each woman was in. They have not said what caused the crash. They have also not said whether anyone else was hurt. As of Saturday afternoon, the sheriff’s office had not put out any more details.

    Nothing released so far says how Cairos and Hight knew each other, or if they knew each other at all. They were 21 years apart in age, and they came from two different towns. What the coroner’s records do show is that they died within a minute of each other.

    The sheriff’s office is still investigating. More information is expected as the work goes on. For now, two families are mourning, and they’re waiting for answers like everyone else.

  • Ginger Kilcrease, Ripley, Mississippi: Reported Crash Flipped Several Times, Then Caught Fire💔

    People are remembering Ginger Kilcrease after word of a crash on Highway 2, between Ripley and Kossuth in Mississippi. The reports are short. Even so, they are hard to read.

    Only one vehicle was mentioned. No other cars or trucks were part of what has been shared so far.

    The reports say that vehicle flipped several times. After that, it caught fire.

    It is a rough stretch of detail for anyone who knew her. A rollover is bad. A fire after it is worse.

    The reports also say the crash may have claimed a life. That part has not been confirmed. No official details had been provided in the reports.

    Those details are still missing. Nothing has been said about what time it happened, who was in the vehicle, or what caused it.

    What people have is a name and a place. Ginger Kilcrease is the name being shared, and the place is Highway 2, on the road between Ripley and Kossuth in northern Mississippi.