A ride home after school turned tragic when a horrific wreck claimed the life of a popular high school student Monday afternoon. Tuesday morning, North Forsyth High School students returned to school early for one mission: to pray.
Forsyth County investigators believe excessive speed and wet conditions may have been factors in a wreck that killed the 11th grader and injured four others Monday afternoon. The mother of the teen said she followed an ambulance to the scene, where she learned what she said she already knew.
“The driver’s side was covered with a sheet so I knew he had gone and I was screaming his name, ‘Kyle, Kyle’ and they wouldn’t let me go down to see him,” Barbara Robins told Channel 2 Action News.
Kyle Alan Robins, 17, of a Gainesville address, died in the two-vehicle wreck, which happened around 4 p.m. on Hendrix Road in Cumming, investigators said. Robins was driving a 2002 Pontiac Grand Am with a classmate in the front seat at the time of crash, which happened off Ga. 369, about two miles from North Forsyth High School.
“The vehicle was traveling at a high rate of speed when it came into the curve at the Dexter subdivision,” Cpl. David Garrison with the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office said. “The vehicle then hydro-planed and the driver lost control, striking the 2001 Chevrolet Silverado truck that was traveling northbound on Hendrix Road.”
Robins died at the scene after driving into the path of the pickup truck, Coroner Lauren McDonald III told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution late Monday.
“It was a massive impact,” McDonald said. “This truly was a horrific accident.”
The impact split the car into two, with the front portion traveling about 70 yards from the point of collision, McDonald said.
“The car had turned into the truck,” McDonald said. “The driver was on the vulnerable side.”
A front seat passenger, Joel Knost, 16, of Cumming, was transported by ambulance to North Fulton Hospital, where he was treated and later released, the sheriff’s office said. Both teens were juniors at North Forsyth, according to Jennifer Caracciolo, spokeswoman for Forsyth County schools.
Three people in the truck were also injured, according to Chief Jason Shivers with the Forsyth County fire department. Allyson Jameson, 18, and two juveniles were transported to hospitals by ambulance for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries. Jameson is a senior at the same school, Caracciolo said. She was transported to North Fulton Hospital, where she was treated and released later Monday.
Two children in the truck, ages 2 and 7, were both transported by ambulance to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Scottish Rite, where they were also treated and released.
The driver of the truck, Brandi Densmore, 30, of Cumming, was not injured in the collision.
Everyone involved in the wreck was wearing a seat belt, Garrison said.
After learning of the crash, some students gathered at the high school, Caracciolo said. Student leaders were planning to gather at 8 a.m. Tuesday at the school’s flag pole to remember the classmate who died, she said.
Additional grief counselors were expected to be at the high school Tuesday, Caracciolo said. News of the student's death was posted on the school's website.
Robins was a member of the golf team at the school and played baseball. Will Foster, an assistant baseball coach for a summer league team, told The AJC he hadn’t gotten to know Robins well. But in a very short time, Foster was impressed with the teen’s dedication and positive attitude, even during the more laid-back summer season.
“He was one of those kids that never missed a game,” Foster said.
A teen who hoped to become a doctor, Robins was well-liked and always with friends, his parents told Channel 2.
“A parent never wants to bury his child, it’s just, it’s horrible,” father Rick Robins said. “I’m going to miss him terribly.”
Robins is survived by his parents and younger sister, Kelsey. A funeral service will be held Friday at 5 p.m. at Mountain Lake Church in Cumming. McDonald and Son Funeral Home in handling arrangements.
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