Buxton crash: Memorial for five teens killed in horror crash grows
Grieving teens laid flowers for their friends killed in the Buxton crash before attending school, as they face the impossible task of returning to life as normal.
NSW
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They came in a steady stream all morning. They clutched photographs and scribbled messages to their friends who had died.
And then, having paid their tributes to five young lives cut short, at the roadside memorial at Buxton on Friday, the school students had to resume their normal lives, heading off to morning classes.
Scattered among the hundreds of flower bouquets on East Parade were mementos from short but impressive lives: sporting ribbons, soccer balls, boxing gloves, signed clothing and even a box of Krispy Kreme doughnuts.
The items tell the stories of five teens who were loved for their warmth, their talents and their quirks.
Dozens of handwritten letters left at the scene by close friends and even strangers further tell of the profound devastation.
“I love you forever, I wish this isn’t real,” one note reads. “Such kind souls forever and ever in our hearts,” reads another.
Tyrese Bechard, 15, Lily Van de Putte, 14, Summer Williams, 15, Antonio Desisto, 16, and another girl, 14, who cannot be named for legal reasons, were killed when the ute they were travelling in hit a tree on Tuesday night.
The alleged driver of the Nissan Navara and the sole survivor of the crash, Tyrell Edwards, 18, has since been charged with five counts of negligent driving occasioning death.
Police allege that the P-plater was travelling at high speed when the crash occurred.
The six teens were understood to be on a McDonalds run, to nearby Tahmoor 10 minutes from the crash scene, when the ute lost control and struck several trees.
Later that night officers had the gut-wrenching job of knocking on the doors of each of the five families.
Lily’s dad John Van De Putte said he was not angry at the alleged driver.
“I’m not angry with him, he’s going to go through hell as it is,” Mr Van De Putte said through tears.
Exaven Desisto, father of Antonio, spoke outside Picton Courthouse, saying of his son: “He was my best friend, he literally never left my f---ing side.”
Maria Ma, aunt to Tyrese, said her nephew was a keen boxer who planned to become an electrician.
“He was a very, very loving child, he was really caring,” Ms Ma said.
A GoFundMe campaign raising funds for the families of the five victims has so far raised $10,000 of its $50,000 goal.
“It’s really just so unexpected,” one donor wrote. “It’s so, so upsetting losing someone so close.”
Tyrell Edwards was refused bail in Picton Local Court on Thursday and will reappear in November.
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