‘All these people that loved my baby’: Spotsylvania mourns 3 teens lost in crash

A community in Virginia is grieving a loss that’s difficult to put into words. Three teenage boys — all close friends — died in a car crash late Friday night.

The three boys were all seniors at Spotsylvania High School, getting ready to graduate this year. One of the victims was 18; the others were 17.

A memorial to the boys continues to grow at the crash site.

The silence underneath a tree there is practically deafening. Take another step in and then you can almost hear it, as notes bear messages: “My brothers forever.” “Fly high.” “I love you Tony. Rest easy. I will keep your memory alive.”

It’s the sound of an entire community collectively grieving an unimaginable loss.

The Spotsylvania County Sheriff’s Office says speed was a factor when the teens’ car hit a tree in the 5300 block of Lewiston Road just before midnight. It was the first night of the high school’s spring break.

Three students from Spotsylvania High School died in a car crash late on Friday night, the Spotsylvania Sheriff’s Office said.

Sara and Izzy parked across the street and walked over with flowers.

“No matter whether you knew them personally or not, everyone at least knows their names, and so it’s very hard for everyone, I think,” Spotsylvania High School Student Sara Edenton said.

Nancy Howell came with her son to pray.

“There’s nothing you can really say at a time like this,” Howell said. “No words would mean anything.”

And yet, it does mean something to Sylvia Clark. Her son, Antonio, was one of the teens who died in the crash, along with his friends Kyle and Dylan.

“It’s an amazing outpouring and I’m so grateful, because it makes me feel good,” she said. “It just warms my heart, just seeing all these people that loved my baby as much as I did.”

“His smile and his eyes. He could light up the world for me; he was my world,” Clark said. “He was the most handsome thing I’d ever seen since the moment I laid eyes on him, giving him birth. He was just so beautiful.”

All three boys would have graduated from Spotsylvania High School at the end of this school year.

The principal sent a letter to families, urging parents to check in with their kids and talk about this loss.

Clark said if her son were here, he’d ask his classmates to also talk with God.

“Please, please send prayers to our family,” she said. “Pray for others.”