Classmates, family members try to cope after deadly wreck

The families of the teens also were left trying to deal the tragedy.

Killed in a one-car crash early Sunday was Michael Fradella, 15, who had taken the keys to his father’s car while family members were asleep. Fradella has just obtained his learner’s permit.

Also killed were passengers Clifford Gordon “Trey” Hannah III, 13; Crystal Smith, 13; Eric Sansone, 14; Samantha Stawizynski, 13; Lauren Sutherland, 13; and Jessica Wallace, 13.

The black Mazda Protege Fradella was driving was traveling at a high rate of speed and went airborne after topping a small hill, and hit a tree. A motorist came upon the wreckage at about 2:30 a.m.

Fradella had taken his friends Hannah and Sansone out for a drive. They stopped by a slumber party at Smith’s home, where the girls sneaked out a window.

They called Andrew Sneller, 13, and asked if he wanted to go along. But Sneller couldn’t because he was grounded for bad grades.

Shelby County Schools sent counselors to the school Monday to attend classes and help the 643 students deal with the loss.

“We didn’t do anything but talk all day about it,” Sneller told The Commercial Appeal. “It was boring and sad. Some people were mad and sad that it happened.”

Some students wrote poems or notes to the families, while others left school early.

Families of the victims spent the day looking through pictures, reminiscing, selecting caskets and trying to figure out how to pay for seven funerals.

“He was so goofy,” Leslie Hannah, 17, said of her little brother. “He was always joking and laughing and borrowing my hair gel.”

Stawizynski’s grandmother, Gloria Wilkinson, stood on the front porch of her granddaughter’s home and wondered how she would live without her first grandchild, who would have turned 14 next month.

“You feel that cold wind?” Wilkinson said. “That’s blowing through my heart right now. I feel like a skeleton, and it’s blowing right through me.

“I’ve never felt this much pain.”

Wallace made straight A’s and was a homebody who liked to take afternoon naps and long baths at night while she read magazines, said her father, Kevin. Their house was usually full of Jessica’s friends doing makeovers, painting fingernails and listening to music, he said.

Across U.S. Highway 51, Sansone’s family talked about the chunky little boy who came two years ago from Delaware to live with his dad, stepmother and their children.

“He had a small suitcase with hardly anything,” said Kathy Sansone, Eric’s stepmother. “I bought all his clothes at a yard sale, and he never complained. He was a happy boy. There wasn’t a mean bone in his body.”

David Sansone said Eric grew taller, thinned down and enjoyed football and baseball.

Joe Fradella hasn’t been in Michael’s room since Saturday night. He showed pictures Monday and said his son was outgoing, loved to be with friends and would help anyone.

“He had a big heart and just loved everyone,” Fradella said. “This is a nightmare.”

Officers said no alcohol or drugs were found in the car but that toxicology tests were ordered.

“They won’t find anything,” Kevin Wallace said. “These were good kids. It can happen to anyone. Peer pressure is just as dangerous as any drug or any drink.”