Vigil Remembers Teens Killed in Fatal Crash

By BRETT JOHNSON and LITA BECK

Updated 2:49 PM CST, Sun, Mar 8, 2009

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Students at a Dallas high school held a candlelight vigil Saturday night to mourn for three teenage girls who were killed in fatal car crash.

Freshman Liliana Reynos, 15; sophomore Miriam Ramirez, 16; and freshman Rosario Filemon, 16, who all attended W.H. Adamson High School, were killed in the crash Friday afternoon.

"A lot of people are missing them and crying for them and having a really hard time getting over it," said Gaby Nunez, a friend of the victims.

Walter Gutierrez said the girls were "good people." At first, he couldn't believe it, he said.

"First I found out on Myspace, then I wouldn't believe it, so I was searching through like the Internet and everything," he said. "And then I waited for the news to come on at night, and that's when I found out it was true."

Gutierrez said students were trying to help and were asking for donations to help the girls' families with funeral expenses.

"Being used to seeing them every day was great, but now it's going to be horrible, not seeing them and everything," Gutierrez said.

"I've got two kids of my own. Looking at them -- that could've been my kid any day," Principal Rawley Sanchez said.

Sanchez said all the kids at Adamson are essentially his kids -- and there's no way to prepare for such a devastating loss.

"Three is really tough, because your heart breaks three different times," he said.

The wreck occurred at a bend in the road where a stretch of Ledbetter hits the 8100 block of Mayforge.

Reynos, Ramirez and Filemon were in a silver Taurus that spun out of control and crashed into a sport utility vehicle carrying two women and a child, investigators said.

Dallas police said investigators believe Ramirez, the driver, was driving too fast.

"From the amount of skid mark that is on the roadway, yes, speed seems to be a factor." said Gary Brown, Dallas police accident investigator.

The people in the SUV were hospitalized but expected to survive, police said.

Sanchez expects the hallways of Adamson to be very somber come Monday morning.

Grief counselors will be on hand for faculty and students, he said.

There was no immediate word on funeral arrangements for Reynos, Ramirez and Filemon.