4 girls killed in Illinois after-school program crash are identified
Category: News & Politics
Via: perrie-halpern • 3 days ago • 5 commentsBy: Doha Madani and Irene Byon (NBC News)
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
By Doha Madani and Irene Byon
The four girls who were killed Monday in a crash at a school camp program in Illinois were identified Tuesday.
Sangamon County Coroner Jim Allmon identified them in a news release as Rylee Britton, 18; Ainsley Johnson, 8; Alma Buhnerkempe, 7; and Kathryn Corley, 7. They were pronounced dead at the scene, the coroner's office said.
Alma's mother, Billie Buhnerkempe, told NBC News that her daughter was a "ray of sunshine wherever she went."
"She was sweet, outgoing, silly and funny," Buhnerkempe said. "She loved her friends and family fiercely. She loved playing soccer, basketball and doing gymnastics."
Alma's younger brother Will has autism, Buhnerkempe added. Alma "loved and supported him the way only a big sister could," she said.
Ainsley's father, Todd Johnson, declined to be interviewed but confirmed her death to NBC News on Tuesday. Her nickname, he said, was "Squirt."
"She was larger than life and will forever leave a void in our broken hearts," Johnson said.
Relatives of Kathryn and Rylee did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Six other people were taken to Hospital Sisters Health System, five of whom were admitted to the children's hospital. One person was treated and released, the hospital said.
Illinois State Police said a vehicle drove into the building at YNOT After School Camp in the town of Chatham around 3:20 p.m. Monday. The cause of the crash is under investigation.
Authorities identified the driver as Chatham resident Marianne Akers, 44. State police reported that Akers, who is not in custody, was subjected to toxicology tests and that the results are pending.
YNOT Outdoors founder Jamie Loftus described the crash as an "unforetold tragedy" in a statement Tuesday. Security cameras showed an SUV traveling at a "high rate of speed" through a field toward the building with "no apparent attempt to alter its direction," Loftus said.
Loftus urged people to keep the victims' families in their thoughts and prayers while also giving them "space and respect"
"I cannot gather the words to express much of anything that will make sense in print," Loftus said. "However, I do know that our families who suffered loss and injury today are hurting very, very badly. They are friends, and their kids are like our kids."
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They were just babies. My heart goes out to their families
Very sad.
Lives shattered in an instant. I can't imagine losing my child this way.
It sounds like the driver went into some sort of trance.
Sounds very similar to here last year...about an hour from me..
A truck left the road, traveled 200 metres through paddocks and fences and ploughed straight into a house..
Killed an elderly couple...she had just got home from hospital the day before and they normally sleep at the back of the house...but to make it easier for her they slept for the first time ever in the front... if they had of been in the back they would have been ok...
The driver was also killed and was found to have had a stroke..
That is so dreadfully sad for the families of the girls that have been lost...