A 17-year-old boy died at the scene of a two-vehicle collision in Battle Ground on July 28.
According to a news release, the Battle Ground Police Department and Fire District 3 responded to the collision on Southeast Eaton Boulevard at Southeast 23rd Avenue at about 4:50 p.m.
One man and two children were also transported to area hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries. Brenden LaFever, 17, died at the scene. Further information on the crash had not been released by The Reflector’s deadline.
The Hockinson Community Church held a vigil on July 28 at Hockinson Middle School for LaFever.
Family friend Stacy Lewis organized a GoFundMe page to support the student’s family.
“Our family has gotten to know Brenden (LaFever) over the course of the past few months,” Lewis wrote on the GoFundMe page. “We hired him on as an employee of ours and he became a wonderful friend to our children. This accident has far-reaching effects on our community and it is with Brenden’s father’s blessing we are asking the community to come together to help support them.”
As of Aug. 2, the page had raised over $10,900 for the LaFever family.
Tim Fox, the recently hired Hockinson High School principal, said the school district wants to provide services to any student that needs support during this time.
Fox said LaFever was a member of the school band, football team and Hockinson Community Church youth group.
The School Mobilization Assistance Response Team (SMART), along with two counselors and a district psychologist are available to speak with students. All entities have training for handling grief, Fox said.
“If parents are seeing signs of distress from their own students at home, they can always contact us and we can provide direct support for their kids,” he said.
Parents and students can call Hockinson School District at 360-448-6400.
Investigators are asking anyone who witnessed the collision to contact a Battle Ground police officer by calling 3-1-1.
