THE STATE

'EXPERIMENTATION ... THAT'S WHAT KILLED MY SON'

Published on: 08/15/2006
Section: FRONT
Edition: FINAL
Page: A1
By ADAM BEAM,
The State Law Enforcement Division is investigating how three teenagers and a 20-year-old got access to alcohol that led to two vehicle accidents, three deaths and a felony DUI charge.
Two 16-year-olds, both seniors at Lexington High School, and a 20-year-old White Knoll High School graduate died in alcohol-related wrecks about 30 minutes apart early Sunday morning.
Killed were:
* Donald Edward Schwartz Jr., 16
* James Nicholas Young, 16
* Brent Joseph Nachel, 20
Schwartz's father, Donald Schwartz Sr., said Monday afternoon that his son loved to fish, hunt and "go fast."
He wouldn't answer questions about where his son was Saturday night, but said he told him before he left the house not to drink and drive.
"Like a lot of other teenage kids out there, they are experimenting with beer. They're experimenting with liquor . . . and that's what killed my son."
Schwartz said several students came by Sunday afternoon to mourn. He had a message for them:
"I want all of them to know that your parents love you and that they're not your enemy. Listen to your parents. We are trying to keep you alive."
Schwartz said he plans to haul his son's wrecked 1985 Chevrolet pickup truck to Lexington High School to serve as a deterrent to drinking and driving.
Creig Tyler, principal of Lexington High School, said he asked Schwartz to put the truck on campus the week of the prom in April. Tyler said he's never had a parent make such an offer.
"Our students have learned some hard lessons today," Tyler said.
Students blocked off two parking spaces on "truck row," where students who drive trucks park. They signed orange traffic cones adorned with pictures and flowers to remember their classmates.
Students set up another memorial on Old Cherokee Road, where at 3 a.m. Sunday Schwartz's truck ran off the road in a curve, overcorrected to the left and hit a tree. Schwartz died at the scene. Young died later at Palmetto Health Richland.
Neither Schwartz nor Young was wearing a seat belt, the Highway Patrol said. Police found open containers of alcohol at the scene. Toxicology reports won't be available for several weeks.
Catherine Coker, 16, shared an environment class with Young and Schwartz for two years. She learned of their deaths on the social networking Web site Myspace.com and said students started posting the news on their profiles to spread the word.
The Old Cherokee Road wreck was the second fatal accident early Sunday morning. The first involved a 1994 Honda Civic driven by 17-year-old White Knoll High School student Kyle Jordan Paradise.
Paradise was arrested and charged with felony driving under the influence, the Highway Patrol said. He was released Monday on $25,000 bail.
Nachel - Paradise's passenger, next-door neighbor and best friend - died after Paradise's vehicle ran off the right side of I-20 westbound, overcorrected, struck a speed limit sign and flipped several times. Nachel, who wasn't wearing a seat belt, was thrown from the car. He died at the scene.
Paradise and his parents declined to comment Monday, saying they intended to hire a lawyer.
Nachel was studying at Coastal Carolina University to become a marine biologist, said neighbor and family friend Ann Watson. She said he played football for White Knoll and was "always a friendly kid."
Several guidance counselors and school psychologists were sent to Lexington High School on Monday. About 25 students took advantage of the counseling, and about 15 were sent home because of emotional distress, Tyler said.
Dena Creel, a substitute who was sent by the school district to help with the counseling, said students were in shock and showed the "beginning stages of grief." She said counselors did not broach the subject of underagedrinking.
Betty Kendrick, guidance director for Lexington 1, said adults who work for Lexington 1 are coached to avoid speculation or sounding preachy in discussions about right or wrong.
"There's a time for that later on," she said. "Right now, they're hurting because this is someone they cared about, and that should be our focus."
Ronnie Binnicker is principal at Wren High School in Anderson County. In a five-year period, 10 of the school's students died in car accidents - including some that were alcohol-related.
Binnicker said the best way to get a handle on student safety behind the wheel is to "continuously educate the students."
"Our experience has been that student behavior is only altered temporarily when something like that happens," he said. "We continuously try to talk to students about those things."
Coker said the deaths have taught her and other students about the importance of making right decisions. She said students are starting to realize their choices can affect others.
"It's like a ripple in the water."
Reach Beam at (803) 771-8405.
Reporter Bill Robinson contributed to this article.
FATAL CAR WRECKS
A look at auto fatalities this year as compared with this time last year:
County 2006, 2005
Kershaw - 7, 10
Lexington - 23, 26
Richland - 32, 34
Statewide - 589, 688
Note: Totals are for Jan. 1 through Aug. 13.
Drinking, driving
Statistics for drivers, ages 15 to 20, involved in alcohol-related car wrecks in 2005:
Injuries: 357
Property damage only: 307
Fatalities: 56
Total accidents: 720
SOURCE: S.C. Department of Public Safety
ON THE WEB
Read John Monk's 2000 report on a rash of high-school driver deaths in the Upstate.
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