A 16-year-old Roosevelt High School sophomore is dead and a 15-year-old teen is seriously injured following a major crash Saturday morning connected with a stolen vehicle, according to the Sioux Falls Police Department.
The crash happened shortly after 3 a.m. near the intersection of 26th Street and Bahnson Avenue, SFPD spokesman Sam Clemens said during a police briefing with media Monday morning.
The vehicle, a 2015 Ford Fusion, was headed north on Bahnson Avenue when a witness saw it run a red light and hit a tree on the other side of the intersection before it rolled over, Clemens said.
Clemens said the connection between the two teenagers and the stolen vehicle is unclear, but that speed most likely played a role in the crash. It’s unclear how fast the vehicle was going at the time, but investigators could take four to six weeks to reconstruct what happened.
The passenger, Kidus Dawit Getnet, was pronounced dead at the scene, while the driver, Devante Omar Charo, had critical injuries and was taken to an area hospital.
It’s also unclear if drugs or alcohol played a factor, and unclear if the two boys wore seatbelts. Clemens said both answers will come with time and toxicology reports, depending on what investigators find. It’s also unclear if other vehicles were involved prior to the crash.
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“There’s a lot of different moving parts, so it’s nothing that happens fast,” Clemens said about the investigation. “They take their time and are very deliberate about what they do to make sure they have the right information.”
The vehicle was stolen between 2:30 a.m. Friday and 3 a.m. Saturday from the 3500 block of South Gateway Boulevard, Clemens said.
While there are no traffic cameras at the intersection, investigators are working to obtain footage from any house cameras nearby, he said.
How Roosevelt High School is helping students process the incident
Principal Tim Hazlett alerted parents about Getnet’s passing Monday morning via email and shared what resources the school was offering to support students in their grief.
“When there is a death such as this, we want to provide our students with support and an opportunity to talk about their concerns,” Hazlett wrote. “The parents/guardians have given us permission to share this news with students. The students were given the opportunity to share information and ask questions. They were encouraged to talk to their parents, teachers, counselors, or other caring adults.”
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He went on to urge parents to take time to listen to children if they need to talk about the situation, and encouraged parents to have children reach out to staff in the counseling office at the high school.
“Parents play a key role in helping their children deal with death and tragic events such as this sad event,” he wrote. “It is important for children to have the opportunity to ask questions and share their feelings. Please have them reach out to any caring adult at RHS.”
Assistant Superintendent James Nold said the district has a crisis team of counselors and social workers that activates in situations such as this to go to the school and help the students and staff process the loss of a student.
Nold said Hazlett, teachers and staff also met together Monday morning to talk through the grieving process and discuss what help was available to students as well as to themselves if they need time off, if they need a class covered or if they need to talk to someone.
“Every kid thinks they’re indestructible, and the hard part is, we’re hit with the sudden realities at times that that’s not the case,” Nold said. “We care for the kids. We care for the school as a family, we care for the family of the child as we continue to move forward.”
Nold said parents and families should watch out for their kids to make sure they’re processing their emotions and grief well, and to have a conversation together.
“These things happen, and it doesn’t matter why they happen. We just know we have a loss,” Nold said. “The reason why is not nearly as important to us at this point in time, it’s really how do we care for the kids, and how do we help them?”
At the school, Nold said sometimes in cases like this, they will have paper students can write on with messages of support or appreciation for their classmate that will be sent to the student or shared with their family.
When a student is hospitalized, as is the case with Charo, Nold said someone from the school stays in contact with them or their family to see how they can help, including bringing them academic work or finding them tutoring support for the duration of their hospitalization.
When a student dies, Nold said the school community usually gathers items from the school that were memorable to the student, including photos of the student taken over the years, and gives them to the student’s family.
If you are close with Kidus Dawit Getnet and/or Devante Omar Charo and would like to share their stories or your memories with them for a story in the Argus Leader, please contact our education reporter at [email protected].