Grief Counselors Help Students After Classmate Killed
By CBS4 Reporter Jamie Leary
WESTMINSTER, Colo. (CBS4)- Grief counselors attended Legacy High School Monday morning after helping students cope with the loss of one of their own over the weekend.
Sophomore Jory Coates, 16, was killed Saturday after he was struck by a driver in Westminster.
Westminster police say the teen was waiting on a median near 112th Avenue and Federal Boulevard when a car heading north on Federal veered off the road.
Police say the teen was killed on impact.
By Sunday, a small memorial grew as friends and family members went back to the scene of the accident.
Sunday afternoon, hundreds of students, along with grief counselors, met at Legacy High School to grieve with their classmates, including his fellow band mates.
Allison Coates, a senior at Legacy High School, grew up with Jory; they also and played together on the high school band.
"Jory was the best kind of friend you could ask for," Allison said. "I'm going to miss knowing that I always had someone to count on at my lowest points."
The fact that Allison shares the same last name as Jory is purely coincidental. Jory and his family were simply close friends with Allison and her family.
While Allison knows going to school on Monday won't be the same, she says he would have wanted her to be back in class.
"I know he's always going to be there," Allison said. "He'll always be in my heart and I know he's looking down at me."
As police continue to investigate what led up to the accident, the don't believe drugs or alcohol played a role in the crash.
Witnesses tell CBS4 they believe the driver may have suffered a medical episode before the crash.
A GoFundMe page has been set up for Jory Coates.
