UPDATE @ 3:15 p.m. June 14
Services for a 13-year-old Springfield Twp. boy struck and killed by a pickup truck while walking in his neighborhood last week will be held Wednesday.
The viewing for Tyree King will be held from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday at Restored Life Ministries in Springfield. A funeral service will follow from 1 to 4 p.m.
On Saturday evening, more than 30 people lit candles, sang songs, shared memories and prayed during a vigil in honor of the Possum Middle School student.
Tyree’s brother, 15-year-old T.J. King, organized the vigil.
“He would have wanted us to do this for him, and have everybody that loves and supports him,” T.J. said.
Friends and family released balloons from the area where King was killed while walking along a neighbor’s yard in the 2000 block of South Yellow Springs Road.
According to police, Charles Heard was headed south in a 1997 Dodge pickup truck when he drove into the grass on the west side of the roadway, hitting Tyree and a fire hydrant.
T.J. said he will never forget that day.
“They ran down here and they told us that my brother got hit … and that’s when me and my dad and my brother, we took off down the street, and yeah, we’d seen all of it,” he said. “I think that I was too young to see … but he’s too young to go, and it’s hard to see him like that.”
King’s family said they need time to grieve, remember and heal.
“It’s very hard to digest right now, said Tyree’s aunt, Loretta Baker. “It almost seems like it’s unreal. He was just here with us the other day and now he’s gone; so it’s very, very hard to take.”
T.J. said the vigil is his way of saying “I love you” one more time.
“I loved him and cared about him,” T.J. said. “I tried to help him as much as I could in sports and in school. It’s just hard that he’s gone.”
Staff writer Lauren Clark contributed to this report
UPDATE @ 2:30 p.m. June 12:
A witness saw a 71-year-old driver weaving on South Yellow Springs Street before his pickup truck struck and killed a 13-year-old boy.
Tyree King, a Possum Middle School student and basketball and football player, was killed Wednesday evening while walking in a neighbor’s yard in the 2000 block of South Yellow Springs Street.
That stretch of road has no sidewalks but it isn’t considered a high hazard area by local traffic experts.
The initial investigation shows Charles Heard was headed south in a 1997 Dodge pickup truck when he drove into the grass on the west side of the roadway, hitting King and a fire hydrant.
A driver who was behind Heard told a 9-1-1 dispatcher he saw him driving erratically before the collision.
“I was behind him all the way up Yellow Springs and he was weaving and bobbing all the way down Yellow Springs, flying,” the caller said.
Todd King, Tyree’s father, said he saw Heard at the crash scene and he didn’t seem to know he’d hit the boy.
“No skid marks where he tried to stop. It’s just unreal now,” Todd King said.
The speed limit in the area is 45 mph.
“We are going to determine whether alcohol was a factor, as well as the speed of the vehicle,” said Lt. Danny Springs, assistant district commander, Piqua Post, Ohio State Highway Patrol.
Tyree was hanging out with a friend about five houses from his home when the crash occurred.
“We just see kids coming from all angles of the house. Banging on the glass door saying they hit him and he ain’t responding,” the boy’s father, Todd King, said.
Court records obtained by the Springfield News-Sun show Heard has been cited multiple times in the past for driving on an expired license and his driver’s license was briefly revoked after a moving violation in 2001, but troopers said Heard is currently licensed to drive.
Heard suffered minor injuries and was treated and released from Springfield Regional Medical Center on Wednesday night. He hasn’t been charged and couldn’t be reached for comment on Thursday.
Mourners set up a memorial for King at the crash site Thursday, with a small angel statue and candles.
School officials with Clark-Shawnee Local Schools said King would have entered the eighth grade at Possum in the fall. They notified parents Thursday that grief counselors will be at the school from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. today.
“He was super funny. Always making me laugh. He was super athletic. He was smart. He was caring. Always helping,” said Tyree’s friend Jonathan Davis. “It kind of hurts, knowing that he’s never going to be with us.”
King had earned a starting spot on the offensive and defensive lines for the upcoming football season, said Shawnee middle school football coach Jeff Mayfield.
“He was a good kid,” Mayfield said. “He really worked hard. He had a lot of friends.”
The team is planning to honor King during the fall season, he said.
Todd King called his son a great kid.
“He was awesome, man. Big heart. Played football, basketball. He loved all his friends at Shawnee,” King said.
The father was stunned that this could happen to a child walking in the yard, especially since he’s always told his children to stick to the grass and avoid traffic on their busy street.
“For a 13- or 15-year-old kid to not be able to walk down the street is crazy,” he said.
Amy Thayer, Jonathan’s mother, also lives on South Yellow Springs Street and said this tragedy has made her rethink letting her children walk or play in the front yard.
“I’m very worried. I don’t even want my kids to go outside right now,” she said. It’s not uncommon for children to walk up and down the road. “I still worry as a parent, but like I said, we always make sure the kids are in the grass.
The last fatal crash on that stretch of road was in 2011 and also involved a pedestrian.
Former Clark County Prosecutor James Berry struck and killed an intoxicated James Pierce on May 4 of that year. Pierce had stumbled into the roadway after leaving the Wayside Tavern and Berry said didn’t stop because he thought he hit a pothole.
Berry was charged with leaving the scene of an accident, but was found not guilty the following year.
The road isn’t considered a high hazard area by the Clark County-Springfield Transportation Coordinating Committee, which evaluates major corridors for safety.
Between Sunnyland Boulevard and West Leffel Lane — where the Tyree was struck — 20 crashes were recorded from 2009 through 2014, according to public safety data provided by TCC.
Pierce was the only fatality while seven other crashes resulted in injuries. It wasn’t immediately clear from the data if any of the other crashes involved pedestrians.
Several blocks north, between John Street and Sunnyland Boulevard, 16 crashes occurred in that same time period.
The Little Miami bike trail currently runs along the roadway in that part of town. It’s been a concern for local leaders for some time because they believed riding on the street deters people from continuing on the trail into town.
“They get lost or they may feel safer on a dedicated trail,” TCC bike path planner Louis Agresta said.
Work is expected to begin this fall to to build a dedicated bike path off the roadway.
Witnesses to the crash made emotional calls to 9-1-1 just after 8:15 p.m. Wednesday, saying the boy had severe injuries and a group of bystanders was fighting with Heard.
“They need to get the cops out here … they’re fighting and everything,” a caller said. When the dispatcher asked who was fighting the caller said, “Everybody is.”
Clark County Sheriff’s deputies responded to the crash scene to investigate the fight. One man admitted to throwing a brick at Heard’s head and punching him, causing a small abrasion to his eye. Heard denied he was struck with a brick and refused to press charges, according to Clark County Sheriff’s Sgt. Brad Barnhart.