Friends and family mourn two teens killed in crash

CHESAPEAKE

Teacher Catherine Albertson still has the 16-year-old's construction paper mosaic she pieced together earlier this year for a project on the Byzantine Empire.

It's a rainbow with a sunshine. "Very girly," Albertson said. "Very Taylor."

Taylor Hayes, a ninth-grader at Western Branch High School, was one of two teens who died in a car accident in Chesapeake on Saturday. Stephanie Barnett, a 2007 Western Branch graduate, also died.

A third person in the car, 15-year-old Jeffrey Prindle, was critically injured but was in good condition at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital on Monday.

Students and teachers remembered them during a moment of silence following an announcement Monday morning, Principal Arthur Brandriff said.

Barnett, 18, was enrolled at Tidewater Community College and wanted to be a history teacher, said her mother, Karen Ferrara.

Barnett was diagnosed with diabetes at age 6 and had volunteered for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation ever since. She would tell other children they could live full lives with the disease even though they felt different.

"She brought comfort to them," Ferrara said.

Most recently, Barnett gave herself shots three times a day and tested her blood four times a day. She graduated from high school a year early with an advanced diploma. When the school system didn't allow her to take senior English during her junior year, she went to night school for it.

"Not to say her grades were the greatest," Ferrara said with a laugh. "She's had a lot of ups and downs" and was one of those teens "who think they know everything."

In addition to her parents and a younger brother and sister, Barnett leaves behind a 6-month-old daughter, Riley.

On Monday, teachers described Taylor as a quiet but bright student who aced most of her assignments. English teacher Chris Wells said the teen excelled in a poetry unit on haiku and wrote many of her own.

Wells did not want to share them until speaking with Taylor's parents but said her writings "revealed an old soul. It was much more reflective than a typical 16-year-old."

Taylor worked at Tastefully Twisted, an ice cream shop in Chesapeake. Wells said the girl sometimes gave her coupons from there.

Albertson taught Taylor social studies, the class where she made the mosaic. "She actually signed my yearbook Friday - 'Thanks to you, I don't hate social studies anymore,' " Albertson said.

Classmates signed a card for Taylor's parents, and one boy wrote that Taylor "was the nicest girl I ever knew. When I moved here a couple of weeks ago, Taylor was the first to speak to me," Albertson said.

Ferrara said Barnett, along with Taylor and Jeffrey, had planned to go to the mall and see a movie Saturday night.

The wreck occurred at 6:14 p.m. on Interstate 664 northbound at the Bowers Hill interchange, near Exit 15 for U.S. 58. Barnett was at the wheel of a Ford Mustang traveling about 75 mph when she apparently lost control, said Sgt. Michelle Cotten, a State Police spokeswoman. The car ran off the side of the road and into a ditch in the highway median before flipping several times.

Contrary to early reports, Jeffrey was wearing a seat belt, Cotten said. The other two were not. They were the second and third Western Branch students to die suddenly since February.

One witness described arriving on the scene minutes after the crash to find one girl in the middle of the highway and another in the culvert. He said he and about a dozen others, including an off-duty paramedic and two nurses, stopped to try to help. The boy was still in the car and seemed trapped by his seat belt.

"Fuel was pouring out of the car," the man said. The boy was able to get out, and three others carried him away from the car.

"It was just helpless. There was nothing anybody could do. God bless the parents. Please tell them we are really sorry we couldn't do more."

The witness, a business owner who lives in Deep Creek, asked that his name not be used because he does not want to appear as "glory-seeking." He had blogged about his experience on PilotOnline.com and later spoke with a reporter. His account was consistent with State Police reports.

Taylor was pronounced dead at the scene. Barnett died later in the evening at Norfolk General.

"I don't know why the kids think it's not cool to buckle up and it's not cool to go the speed limit," Ferrara said. "These girls have paid the price and it breaks my heart. I wish I could turn back the clock. I would give my life to do that."

Kristin Davis, (757) 222-5208, kristin.davis@pilotonline.com