A former Steilacoom High School football standout was found dead near the scene of a car crash early Friday morning in Oregon, according to Eugene police.
Fotu T. Leiato II, 21, who was a junior at the University of Oregon and played three seasons for the Ducks, was identified late Friday as a passenger killed in single-car rollover crash.
His body was discovered on a path near Autzen Stadium by a woman walking by the crash site at about 7 a.m., several hours after it occurred.
Police initially responded at about 2:30 a.m. to a crash near Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. and Kinsrow Avenue in Eugene.
The driver, believed to be 22-year-old Pedro Chavarin Jr., told police he was not carrying any passengers. He was transported to a local hospital and cited for DUI.
The discovery of Leiato's body was later connected to the crash.
"I loved that kid. That was very hard news to hear," former Steilacoom coach Brian Koch said Saturday. "Obviously his death is not natural and it's hard to process.
"He was such an infectious kid for our program. He was well-loved, and he's going to be missed, there's no doubt about it."
Koch was the head coach at Steilacoom for seven years, and through the entirety of Leiato's career.
He said he would film every Oregon game to show his own children, who are starting to play football, Leiato's success on the field.
"He's been this invincible kid that they grew up coming to Steilacoom games and watching him play, and going to camp with us," Koch said tearfully.
"It's hard for everybody to go through that. I'm going to miss him. He was a great kid."
Former Steilacoom assistant William Garrow, who now coaches at North Thurston, was one of many to express condolences on social media.
"Life is not fair," he wrote on Twitter early Saturday morning. "Love you Tuli. Forever."
Another message was posted on the site Saturday morning by the Steilacoom football program account.
"Our deepest condolences go out to the Leiato family for the loss of their son Fotu," the tweet says. "His memory will forever live in the hearts of all Sentinels."
Leiato was one of the most sought-after recruits in Washington his senior season at Steilacoom, after entering the school year with no Division I offers.
His Hudl film became wildly popular, with his senior highlights tape building to nearly 1 million views, eventually earning him offers from schools in multiple Power Five conferences.
"He earned it," Koch said. "He was a very hard worker, very talented. That was on Fotu. He worked extremely hard to get where he was."
Leiato became the first player in school history to sign with a Pac-12 program in 2015, surrounded by more than 70 people at his ceremony.
"He opened the doors for a lot of kids in that community who maybe otherwise wouldn't have envisioned themselves as having those kinds of possibilities," Garrow said Saturday.
"In that regard, he's had a lasting impact on not only those kids, but a lot of kids from smaller high schools."
Leiato finished his senior season with 91 tackles on his way to 2A SPSL defensive MVP honors. He also compiled more than 1,000 all-purpose yards and scored 14 touchdowns.
He was a member of the The News Tribune's 2015 class of Northwest Nuggets and a TNT All-Area pick his senior season.
At Oregon, Leiato appeared 38 games, getting his first start against Southern Utah last September as a junior. He logged a career-high five tackles in that game, and had 37 in his three seasons.
Leiato was dismissed from the team last month after he was arrested for theft, criminal trespassing and criminal mischief on April 25 for allegedly removing a parking boot from a car.
He was also booked for failing to appear in court earlier in April on a separate trespassing charge.
