Deztanee Cobb, 17, dead in the fiery crash
COMSTOCK TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) — Four of the five people who were killed in a fiery crash early Saturday morning just east of Kalamazoo have been identified.
The driver, 15-year-old Corravion Murphy — who due to his age did not yet have a driver’s license — and a passenger, Jaquerious Hegler, were identified by Corravion’s mother.
Late Sunday afternoon, Kalamazoo County Undersheriff Paul Matyas confirmed two other passengers as Deztanee Cobb, 17, and Marshawn Williams, 15. The fifth victim has not yet been identified.
The crash happened around 12:43 a.m. Saturday on E. Main Street, east of Sprinkle Road in Comstock Township.
Kalamazoo Township police say an officer parked on Fenimore Avenue near the E. Main Street intersection watched as a car going an estimated 100 mph passed him heading east on Main Street. The officer turned on his lights and sirens and attempted to catch up to the car, but lost sight of it shortly after.
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According to dashcam video released shortly after the crash, the car passed the officer parked on Fenimore Avenue at 12:42 a.m. The video’s timestamp reads an hour earlier, at 11:42 p.m.; however, investigators say it was an hour behind for some reason.
By the time the officer pulled on to E. Main Street and turned on his lights and siren, the car was already out of sight. Seven seconds after initiating his siren, the officer is heard on the video saying, “I’m trying to catch up to it.”
About 15 seconds after the radio communication, he turned off the lights and siren and continued eastbound. Undersheriff Matyas told 24 Hour News 8 the officer continued given the dangerous speed the car was traveling.
The officer arrived at the intersection of Sprinkle Rd. and E. Main St. at 12:43 a.m., where dashcam video shows the car had already crashed and was on fire.
The distance between where the car past the officer and where it crashed is approximately 1.5 miles. Matyas told 24 Hour News 8 that all five victims were killed on impact.
Sunday night, 24 Hour News 8 spoke with Corravion Murphy’s girlfriend, Kamarey Williams, who said they’d been dating more than a year. She said Corravion was taking driver’s education and wasn’t sure what caused the crash or why he was driving so fast.
She believes it may have been peer pressure.
“Think about him every day,” she said. “It’s not something that’s going to ever go away. He’s going to forever be in my heart. Every day and I’m going to keep pushing to make him proud because I know he would want me to do be happy and proud and doing what I’m supposed to do.”
24 Hour News 8 also spoke with the mother of Deztanee Cobb on Sunday.
Tracey Taylor said her daughter was entering her senior year and was dual-enrolled at Kalamazoo Central High School and Kalamazoo Community College taking AP classes. Cobb also had two varsity letters in swimming and played softball, but couldn’t play sports her senior year due to an injury.
Taylor said Cobb just lost two friends who committed suicide last year and her sister, who died from childhood diabetes, adding that her daughter went to counseling to get through that tough year and that she wanted to be a child psychologist.
Deztanee Cobb (undated photo) Taylor also said Cobb, who she described as “loyal, loving and empathetic,” mentioned she was going to a party Friday night but it wasn’t alarmed when her daughter didn’t come home because she thought she was just staying a friend’s house overnight.
Funeral arrangements for the victims have not yet been announced.
A Kalamazoo Public Schools spokesperson told 24 Hour News 8 grief counselors will be made available as needed.
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Authorities begin identifying victims in fiery crash
by FOX 17 News, Updated September 4, 2017
KALAMAZOO, Mich. (AP) — Michigan authorities are beginning to release the identities of the five people killed in a fiery, high-speed crash in Kalamazoo Township.
Township police said in a news release Saturday that the five victims were riding in a Dodge Charger traveling about 100 mph when it crashed into a tree and burst into flames about 1 a.m. Saturday.
In an updated release from the Kalamazoo County Sheriff’s Office, two of the victims were identified as Marshawn Williams, 15, and Deztanee Cobb, 17. It is expected that the remaining victims will be identified later this week.
Kalamazoo County Undersheriff Paul Matyas says he can’t speculate on the victims’ ages or genders because the scene is so “gruesome.”
A local pastor says the five victims are all believed to be teenagers, including one he had mentored.
An officer who spotted the speeding car turned on his lights and sirens, but quickly ended his pursuit because of safety concerns due to the car’s speed.
He spotted the crashed, burning car along a roadside shortly afterward.
A Michigan pastor says the victims are believed to have all been teenagers.
Strick Strickland is pastor of the Second Baptist Church and leader of the Kalamazoo area NAACP office. He says it’s his understanding that all the occupants of the car that crashed early Saturday were teens.
Police have not identified the five victims.
Strickland says he mentored one of them and he was a teen who attended an alternative school and played football.
He called the deadly crash “extremely tragic” and difficult to comprehend.
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5 dead in high-speed fiery crash in Kalamazoo County, MI
Updated on September 2, 2017
By Mickey Ciokajlo
KALAMAZOO, MI -- Five people are dead after a speeding car left the road, hit trees and burst into flames, police said.
The crash occurred shortly before 1 a.m. near the intersection of Sprinkle Road and East Main Street in Kalamazoo Township, according to a release from township police.
As of 7 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 2, East Main Street east of Sprinkle Road remained closed, about six hours after the crash.
A township police officer saw the vehicle, a blue Dodge Charger, at 12:43 a.m. going about 100 mph in the 2000 block of East Main Street, police said. The officer radioed in the information and turned on his lights and sirens.
The officer lost sight of the Charger after it went around the curve near Humphrey Street.
"Accordingly, within a few blocks, the officer ceased his efforts to stop the Charger by shutting off his lights and siren and slowing his patrol car," the release says. "Concerned about the Charger's excessive speed, the officer continued to drive east on East Main. When he reached Sprinkle Road, he saw what appeared to be a fire on the north side of East Main, east of Sprinkle. The officer discovered the Charger had crashed into trees along the road was fully engulfed in fire."
Kalamazoo County Undersheriff Pali Matyas told MLive early Saturday morning that five people were confirmed dead in the vehicle.
"There's a rumor going around there was a chase," Matyas said. "There was no chase."
Matyas said authorities have not yet identified the five people.
"We don't know who these people are yet who were in the car," Matyas said. "We have not got positive identification on them yet."
The intersection of Sprinkle Road and East Main Street is closed until at least 8 a.m., and police ask motorists to avoid the area.
Most likely black trash were taken out on their own. These "people" must have been drunk or on drugs as these types of high-speed crashes caused in the early a.m. hours by drunks or druggies. Society will not miss these idiots, as we have many law-abiding citizens who want to live a good peaceful life without alcohol or drugs.
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COMSTOCK TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) — Kalamazoo County sheriff’s deputies say five people were killed in a fiery crash early Saturday morning.
It happened around 12:43 a.m. on East Main Street, east of Sprinkle Road.
Kalamazoo Township police say an officer parked on Fenimore Avenue near the Main Street intersection watched as a car going an estimated 100 mph passed him heading east on Main St.. The officer turned on his lights and sirens and attempted to catch up to the car, but lost sight of it shortly after.
***WARNING: The dashcam video of the crash may be disturbing to some viewers***
According to dashcam video released shortly after the crash, the car passed the officer parked on Fenimore Ave. at 12:42 a.m. The video’s timestamp reads an hour earlier, at 11:42 p.m.; however, investigators say it was an hour behind for some reason.
By the time the officer pulled on to Main St. and turned on his lights and siren, the car was already out of sight. Seven seconds after initiating his siren, the officer is heard on the video saying, “I’m trying to catch up to it.”
About 15 seconds after the radio communication, he turned off the lights and siren and continued eastbound. Kalamazoo County Undersheriff Paul Matyas told 24 Hour News 8 the officer continued given the dangerous speed the car was traveling.
The officer arrived at the intersection of N. Sprinkle Rd. and E. Main St. at 12:43 a.m., where dashcam video shows the car had already crashed and was on fire.
The distance between where the car passed the officer and where it crashed is approximately 1.5 miles.
Undersheriff Paul Matyas tells 24 Hour News 8 that all five people in the vehicle were killed on impact. He said they are unlikely to have positive identification “for some time” due to the victims being engulfed by the fire, but they believe they know the identity of one of them. Their names will not be released until they are positively identified.
A spokesman for Kalamazoo Public Schools released a statement, saying, “We are deeply saddened by last night’s tragedy. Law enforcement indicates that victims have not been positively identified. We will have grief counselors as necessary in school.”
Matyas said deputies are aware of several posts on social media about possible victims, and the sheriff’s office has been contacted by about 20 families who believe the victims may be one of their loved ones.
East Main Street was closed between Sprinkle Road and 26th Street as the scene was investigation, but reopened around 8:30.
The crash remains under investigation by the Kalamazoo County Sheriff’s Office.
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Five people were killed Saturday morning in Kalamazoo Township when a speeding vehicle left the road and crashed into a tree, catching fire.
According to a release from the township's police department, an on-duty officer spotted a blue Dodge Charger traveling at an estimated 100 m.p.h. along East Main Street at 12:43 a.m.
The officer lost sight of the fleeing vehicle when it went around a curve near Humphrey Street. When officers turned the same curve, the Charger was gone. Police ceased efforts to stop the vehicle by turning off the cruiser's lights and sirens.
The officer soon discovered the vehicle fully engulfed in flames on East Main near Sprinkle Road. The incident was captured on dashcam and can be viewed above.
In an interview with WOOD TV8, Undersheriff Paul Matyas reported that five people were killed on impact. One of the victims has been identified, but their name has not been released.
The Kalamazoo County Sheriff's Office is conducting an investigation.