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Aftermath Of Teens' Crash: Funeral Plans, Healing

Tribune photo by JIM REED

Nicholas Marcotrigiano was killed when this pickup collided with a Jeep on State Road 60.

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By D'ANN LAWRENCE WHITE | The Tampa Tribune
and JOSH POLTILOVE | The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 5, 2008

Updated: 08/05/2008 01:58 pm

PLANT CITY - Funeral services for Nicholas Marcotrigiano, one of two Bloomingdale High School students to die in a crash on State Road 60 just after midnight Monday, will be held Friday morning.

The service for Marcotrigiano – the son of a Tampa Police Department captain – will be at 10 a.m. Friday at Serenity Meadows Memorial Park and Funeral Home, 6919 Providence Road, Riverview. The family will receive friends from 4 to 8 p.m. Thursday at Serenity Meadows Memorial Park Chapel.

"He is survived by an extended loving family and friends," an obituary notice sent to The Tampa Tribune today states. "It should be known to all that Nic was always happy and loved life, as he did his friends. So smile and remember him as he was."

The condition of the two teenage passengers seriously injured in the crash hasn't changed. One remains in serious condition at Tampa General Hospital; the other remains in critical condition.

All four people involved in the crash attended Bloomingdale High in the 2007-08 school year.

By this morning, the orange grove where one of the vehicles stopped after striking a tree had been transformed into a shrine to the dead teens.

Balloons, bouquets, a wreath of yellow daisies and red roses with a "Friend" banner, and posters with handwritten sentiments from classmates are the only evidence of the early Monday collision on State Road 60.

A 5-foot-high white cross erected next to the tree where Marcotrigiano's 1996 Ford Ranger came to rest is dedicated to him and the other driver, 15-year-old Hailey Weatherly. It is signed by dozens of friends.

A rosary and small cross hang from an overhead branch of the tree.

On the opposite side of the four-lane divided highway, the wooden fence that the other vehicle, a 1999 Jeep Cherokee, crashed through before hitting a tree and overturning already is repaired.

Friends of some of the people involved in the crash went to the scene today. Amanda Sauls said her friend Amelia Lee Gold, 16, of Valrico, needs rehabilitation and that it could be months before she is fully able to walk.

Kaitlyn Parker, a longtime friend of Gold, said Gold is on a lot of pain medication. She said Gold is a strong girl and will be fine.

"My heart goes out to the other kids and their parents," said Hailey's mother, 47-year-old Cindy Weatherly. "I know that's who Hailey would be worried about."

It hasn't completely sunk in for Weatherly that her only child -- "the light of my life" – is never coming home.

As their Chihuahua Peanut scampered to and from the front door, Weatherly was beginning to make funeral arrangements Monday in her home at Savannah Landings in Bloomingdale East.

"I never thought I'd have to make the decision whether or not to cremate my daughter," she said. "I always told her I never wanted to be cremated, but I never thought to ask what she wanted."

The highway patrol said Weatherly was driving a 1999 Jeep Cherokee east alongside a 1996 Ford Ranger driven by Marcotrigiano, 17, of Plant City, when the vehicles collided about 12:10 a.m. just east of Mud Lake Road.

The impact sent the pickup south into a large tree.

The sport utility vehicle went north, crossing the median, hitting a fence and tree and overturning. The impact ripped the top off the SUV, ejecting Weatherly. She died at the scene.

Marcotrigiano died behind the wheel, troopers said. He is the son of Russell Marcotrigiano, who heads personnel and training for the Tampa Police Department, police spokeswoman Andrea Davis said.

Marcotrigiano received his driver's license in February 2006.

In October 2007, he was cited for not wearing a seatbelt. In January, he was cited for driving 72 mph in a 45 mph zone; adjudication was withheld. In July, he was cited for failing to obey a traffic sign/device.

Marcotrigiano's passenger, Brandon L. Simonds, 17, of Valrico, was taken to Tampa General Hospital and remains in critical condition.

Gold, the passenger in the Cherokee, was taken to Tampa General Hospital and remains in serious condition.

Weatherly had a learner's permit, but there was no one in the vehicle who was at least 21 years old, a requirement, patrol spokesman Steve Gaskins said.

None of the teens had on seat belts, troopers said.

"Statistics show you are much safer and the chances of injury are greatly reduced when wearing a seat belt," Gaskins wrote today in an e-mail to the Tribune. "I can say that [Hailey] Weatherly would not have been ejected if she was belted. Death and/or injuries can still occur wearing a belt obviously, but if restrained a vehicle occupant won't be ejected, thrown against another occupant, strike the steering wheel, dashboard, or windshield – this is where the injuries and fatalities come from!"

Gaskins said there are no updates on the crash investigation.

Donald Ramsey Cameron, 17, said he and Marcotrigiano's identical twin, Dan, were en route to the Marcotrigiano home early this morning when they reached a detour authorities established minutes after the collision.

Cameron, who had planned to spend the night at the Marcotrigiano home, took an alternate route. He and others in the household were unaware the crash involved Nicholas until authorities awakened everyone at 4 a.m., Cameron said.

Family members gathered at the house shortly after daylight.

"Everybody was just crying," Cameron said.

"He liked to play football; he liked to make his truck look nice by painting it," Cameron said of his best friend's late brother. The truck Nicholas Marcotrigiano was driving had been sold to him by Cameron when Marcotrigiano got his license, Cameron said.

The highway patrol has not determined how fast the vehicles were going.

"I wouldn't think they would be racing," Cameron said. One of the vehicles was a Jeep. "It's not that fast of a vehicle."

He said it is common for him and his teenage friends to be out at midnight.

"We all stay out late; we all like to hang out with our friends," Cameron said Monday shortly after visiting the crash site. "We're always at our buddies' houses playing video games, watching movies, hanging out with our girlfriends and stuff.

"I guess all four of them were coming back to Nick and Dan's house to hang out for the rest of the night, and they got in an accident on the way there."

Cameron, who starts his senior year at Durant High School this month, said he and the Marcotrigiano twins have been friends since they all attended fifth grade together in Bloomingdale.

In 2007-08, Weatherly was a freshman, Simonds and Gold were sophomores and Marcotrigiano was a junior.

"These students were particularly involved in our school here, and they were good students," Principal Mark West said.

West informed his school's guidance staff this morning about the crash.

"We do have kind of a crises team set up to field calls," he said.

Lorrie Fluker, a friend of Weatherly's mother, said Weatherly was a sweet girl who didn't get in trouble.

Gold's father, John, said this morning that all four teens were friends.

"Evidently, one of them clipped the other car," he said.

The accident scene is visible from the home of Mary Smude, who has lived on State Road 60 for 25 years. She said there has been an inordinate number of fatal accidents within a one-mile stretch of the four-lane divided highway that runs past her home at 1501 W. State Road 60.

"My husband and I have been discussing this for years. How can this keep happening?" she said Monday. "It's too unusual for so many accidents to happen in such a short span."

She added, "It just breaks my heart. I'm a mother, and I think about these poor parents of these kids."

Most of the fatal accidents, she recalled, were at night, usually in the westbound lanes and sometimes when the road was wet, as was the case early Monday, she said. Some have been single-vehicle accidents, she said.

"I know they race down Highway 60, but it's not as bad now," since authorities began patrolling in unmarked vehicles, writing speeding citations, she said.

The highway patrol investigation is ongoing.

Florida law allows 15-year-olds to obtain learner's permits but places restrictions on driving. The law says such drivers may operate motor vehicles only during daylight during the first three months and only until 10 p.m. thereafter.

At all times, the law states, the driver with a learner's permit must have a licensed driver who is at least 21 years old in the front seat next to them. The law also makes it a misdemeanor for a vehicle owner to knowingly allow someone without a license or with a restricted license to use their vehicle.

The state also places restrictions on licensed drivers who are 16 or 17.

The law states that a 17-year-old driver cannot drive between 1 and 5 a.m. unless accompanied by a licensed driver 21 or older. The exception is if the driver is going to or from work.

The Ford pickup driven by Marcotrigiano is registered to his father.

The SUV that Weatherly was driving is registered to John Gold, the father of her passenger.

News Channel 8 reporter Jennifer Leigh contributed to this report. Reporter D'Ann White can be reached at (813) 657-4524 or DLWhite@tampatrib.com.

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