Shockwaves rippled through Prince Andrew High School in Dartmouth yesterday as students learned of the death of one of their own.
Kayla Sutherland and Alyssa Richardson, both 15, couldn’t believe it at first when they were told one of their best friends, David Alexander Julien, was killed in a car accident on Sunday night.
Julien was one of three people in the car that struck a utility pole in a Dartmouth neighbourhood around 8 p.m. Julien was sitting in the back seat and wasn’t wearing a seatbelt, police say. He died at the scene.
“Some people couldn’t talk they were crying so hard,” said Sutherland.
“People started looking like zombies, and no one knew what to do,” added Richardson.
Extra counsellors were sent to the school yesterday to help students cope with the loss.
Sutherland said she knew Julien since junior high and he was a good person.
“We used to go to his house everyday and he made me toast. He used to try my pants on and we’d laugh about his big butt,” she said, laughing.
Hand-in-hand with grief is the anger at the two other occupants of the car who allegedly ran off after hitting the power pole.
“If it’s his time to go, then it’s his time to go but you don’t leave someone there. You don’t just leave your friend there,” Richardson said.
The two girls spent yesterday afternoon calling businesses in the area and asking them to donate to their fundraising efforts. They want to raise money for Julien’s funeral.
“His mom doesn’t have a lot of money and we want to make sure he has a funeral he deserves. A lot of people loved him,” said Richardson.
They’re starting up a penny drive and also planning auction and barbecue fundraisers.
The girls said there’s a bucket set up in the school’s office to collect donations.
