Police say the driver who hit them as they walked down the road was a classmate and friend.
The weather was unseasonably warm, and spring break had just begun for Birch Run High School students Friday. Knowing they didn’t have to be up for school 18-year-old John Mauro and 15-year-old Anthony Larkin, Jr. decided to enjoy the clear night with a walk down a two-lane country road.
As Mauro walked just after midnight near his home he did what friends say he always did. He included them in a good time.
“They were always texting,” says Chelsea Kozdron.
Mauro sent a message to her just after midnight, telling her he was walking by her home on Seymour Road near Burt Road. She saw it when she woke up the next morning.
As she greeted her mom, she got the disturbing news.
“She's like, ‘Two boys died on our road last night Chelsea,’ and I'm like no, it can’t be John, because if it is John, it’s T.J. It can’t be them.”
A short time later the mother of the young man Chelsea says she spent time with in daycare, all through school, and in band called and confirmed her fears to be true.
“They were both in band. John played the trumpet. T.J. played the saxophone. They were just such good friends,” says Chelsea. “We always had such a good time.”
Both boys died just yards from Chelsea’s home when a driver hit them. Police say the driver was no stranger, but a classmate and good friend of the victims.
People who know the 18-year-old driver who lived across the street from John Mauro say he is devastated.
”You can see it on his face,” says Kevin Kniebbe.
Kniebbe says he has hung out with Mauro and the driver who tragically hit him at parties and just with friends.
“I’ve seen pictures of just them together,” says Kniebbe. “Filling up a pool, swimming, just them two.”
As Chelsea reads notes left at the make-shift memorial yards from the blood soaked soil where John died she says she can’t help but wonder if she could have prevented it with a simple text back.
“Knowing that I was probably one of the last people he texted... that's kind of heavy. It just hurts that I could have been out there with him. I could have got him off the road. What am I supposed to say to that?”
Visitation will be Monday night at the Snow Funeral home for John Mauro. His funeral liturgy will take place at 11:00 a.m. Tuesday, April 6, 2010 at St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church. His family has asked that those planning an expression of sympathy consider memorials to Make-a-Wish Foundation of Michigan or Birch Run High School Band.
Visitation for Anthony Larkin will be Tuesday from 2:00 to 4:00 and 6:00 to 8:00 p.m at W.L. Case & Company 5700 Dixie Highway. His funeral will be at 11:00 a.m. Wednesday, April 7, 2010 at the same location. In lieu of flowers memorial contributions may be made to the wishes of the family.
