A tribute of flowers, messages and other mementoes continues to grow at the site of a fiery crash on Crowchild Trail that claimed the life of a teenager on Wednesday.
Friends and family have now identified him as Saxon Halfyard, a 16-year-old student at Central Memorial High School.
On Friday, friends — and even people who didn’t know him personally — continued to stop at the crash scene, along northbound Crowchild between 50th Avenue and Flanders Avenue, to pay their respects.
“It’s just really heartbreaking — to think about what happened,” said John Vankka who accompanied by another friend of Saxon’s stopped to pay their respects.
“It’s hard to be here and think that my friend, just what he went through. It makes me happy to see how much stuff is being put up and how much love and support there is because I just really wish he could be here to see that,” added Vankka.
The family of 16-year-old Saxon Halfyard describe him as a person who was kind and gentle and always willing to help someone in need.
Photo provided by family
Sergio Gallinelli didn’t know the victim personally, but lives in the area near the crash.
“Drive past this road every day — wanted to come and pay my respects,” said Gallinelli. “I’m the same age as he was. It’s tough — put yourself in that scenario and you think about the people it affects, the families and everyone involved. It’s terrible.”
Police say the crash happened when the white 2009 Lincoln MKX the teen was driving was travelling northbound in the far right lane of Crowchild Trail.
Another vehicle — a 2011 white Lincoln MKX, being driven by a 47-year-old man with a child passenger — attempted to move into the same lane and struck the victim’s vehicle.
Halfyard’s vehicle left the road and crashed into the concrete base of a large traffic sign, bursting into flames.
Friends pause to pay their respects at the memorial a 16-year-old boy killed in a crash on Crowchild Trail in Calgary on Wednesday.
Global News
While police said alcohol and drugs are not considered to be factors in the collision, speed is being investigated as a possible factor.
Police also said the other driver initially left the scene but returned a short time later.
Colin Foster, Sergeant in Charge of Collision Reconstruction Unit for Calgary Police said the explanation for that will be part of their investigation.
“We look at three things. We look the environment. We look at the vehicle and we look the driver,” said Foster. “Did the environment play a role in this collision? Not that we can see. We’ll conduct a full mechanical inspection on the vehicle to see if there’s any defect in the vehicle that may have led to the collision. And obviously we look into the driver, we look to his history, we look in to the experience and obviously is there any alcohol from anybody involved or drugs or anything like that? ”
CPS Sergeant Colin Foster said investigators will look at three things when trying to determine the cause of the crash, including the environment, the vehicle and the driver.
Courtesy: Karen Warrington
Foster said investigators already have already spoken with some witnesses and have some dashcam video of the collision, but are asking any other witnesses, or drivers with dashcam video to give police a call.
“Once my reconstructionists have gathered all the information they start to work out their opinion as to the causes of this particular collision and try to ascertain basically what happened. Once the actual investigation is complete, we always consult with the Crown just to see if there is sufficient evidence from this collision that may lead to a charge.”
A memorial of flowers, messages and other tributes continues to grow at the scene of Wednesday’s fatal crash on Crowchild Trail in Calgary.
Global News
In a statement provided to Global News, Halfyard’s family said they are “deeply touched by the outreach of love and support. Saxon was kind and gentle and always willing to help someone in need.”
A celebration of his life will be held on April 11th at the Bethany Chapel of Calgary.