Family and friends holds memorial for Vista Ridge students killed
Two students from Ridge High School die in a car crash in Cedar Parks. Police reports say that Taylar Lesser, 17-years-old and Nathanial Gomez, 18-years-old, were driving north on Parmer lane when they crossed into over the median into oncoming traffic. The teenagers died at the scene when a Volkswagen hit their car.
Saturday evening, groups of people came to show their respects at the scene of the accident, offering memorial balloons, crosses, flowers and pictures of the two.
"We found out this morning at 4:00 when we got a knock on the door," said Michelle Gonzales, mother of Nathaniel. "I knew it couldn't have been my Nathaniel, but it was," she said. Michelle Gonzales said he would had graduated this year and that he was a hard worker.
Friends know Taylar Lesser as the girl with a kind heart.
"She left a mark on Vista and I wanted to make sure that even people who didn't know who she was, knew she was a good person," said a close friend, Ashley Cooper.
But also friends knew the students together. They two couples had been dating since 2012.
"They were the high school couple. Everyone knew them," Cooper said. "You knew them as 'Taylar and Nathaniel."
"She was like our daughter. Any get-together we had she was invited, she came. She was part of the family," says Gonzales.
Friends said right now, it still doesn't seem real. They won't see their classmates in school on Monday.
"I just was like 'No, it's not happening, not real. I'm going to see her.' And like, I know she's not," says Cooper.
Towards the end of the night, huddled together, friends sat around the memorial sharing memories together of Taylar and Nathaniel.
"I want people to know, she was a great friend," says Cooper.
"It's extremely comforting and we're glad that he is surrounded by people like this," Gonzales said.
The school principal sent a letter to students and parents saying counselors will be available on campus this week/ Meanwhile friends say they have ordered bracelets in remembrance of the former students.
Source: KVUE News, "Friends, family remember Vista Ridge students killed," Shannon Murray, January 11, 2014