Heidi Penwell, the mother of John Parker, lays flowers down next to the make-shift memorial for Parker, Tiara Kalebaugh, and their dog, Dirt, on Friday afternoon along Big Hanaford Road in Centralia. Parker and Kalebaugh were killed in a car crash early Friday morning near the spot on Big Hanaford Road where the memorial was placed.
Friends and family gather to plant a memorial for John Parker, 20, Tiara Kalebaugh, 18, and their dog, Dirt, who were killed in a car crash on Big Hanaford Road early Friday morning in Centralia.
Johnathan W. Parker, 20, Centralia, and Tiara F. Kalebaugh, 18, Pe Ell, had recently started dating. They were both killed in a crash near Centralia Thursday night.
Lindsay Anderson remembers first meeting her brother’s new girlfriend on Thanksgiving.
Johnathan W. Parker, 20, never seemed more pleased than he was when he was with Tiara Kalebaugh, she said.
“I had never seen my brother as happy as he was with her,” Anderson said Friday.
The young couple died Thursday night during a crash on Big Hanaford Road just east of Centralia. Parker’s Kia Spectra crossed the centerline and collided with an oncoming dumptruck at about 9:40 p.m., killing Kalebaugh, Parker and his dog, Dirt, almost instantly, according to the Washington State Patrol.
Speed has been identified as one factor in the crash, though toxicology tests are also planned.
Parker was not wearing a seat belt, though Kalebaugh, 18, was.
Less than 24 hours after the fatal crash, friends and family of Parker and Kalebaugh gathered near the crash site at 161 Big Hanaford Road.
“He was just a really special boy,” said Heidi Penwell, Parker’s mother, who was among the crowd of mourners Friday afternoon. “He was kind.”
Parker and Kalebaugh lived with Penwell in her Centralia home, she said. Like her son, who spent a lot of time with his siblings who had special needs, Kalebaugh was very family-oriented, kind and loving.
Many friends of the couple who gathered Friday said Kalebaugh and Parker were very much in love, and that meeting one another was one of the best things that ever happened to the young couple.
“John Parker was a wonderful guy, full of life, would give anything for his friends or family,” said Taylor Gates, who was one of Parker’s closest friends, Friday morning. “He loved his dog and his girlfriend more than anything in the world.”
Parker worked in construction and loved cars, particularly Hondas and Chevrolets, his friends said.
“John had a lot of friends and he was loved by many, many people,” Gates said. “He was an adrenaline junky and he loved his family.”
More than 30 people gathered Friday on the side of the wet, cold road where both young people died.
The group stood around a wooden cross, a pile of flowers and other items that belonged to the young couple, including a pair of shoes, a stuffed animal and necklace. The cross, which was made by a few of Parkers’ friends, had the names of the young couple written on it, and in the middle of the cross, there was a Chevrolet decal.
Chevrolet trucks were some of Parker’s favorite vehicles and many of his friends said Friday that Parker would often playfully argue with anyone who owned a Ford about how Chevys were better.
Parker was a son, a brother, a good friend to all, and an uncle who was deeply loved by his four-year-old nephew, said Parker’s sister, Anderson.
“My son always loved to spend time with him,” Anderson told The Chronicle Friday morning. “He has a grin that made everyone smile and his laugh was contagious. He and I always played jokes on each other. He was such a happy, fun-loving person and (is) going to be missed by everyone who knew him.”
Kalebaugh was an amazing friend who was there for the people who cared about her no matter what, said Shelby Brooks, a life-long friend of the 18-year-old Pe Ell woman. She was also very strong-willed and had a big heart, Brooks said.
Ashley Mitts, another friend of Parker who said she has known him for about a year, said Parker was a funny and compassionate friend.
“He was so funny and such a good person,” Mitts said. “I don’t know anybody else that I could depend on and call them and they would be there for me ... It’s really, really sad that he is gone.”
Big Hanaford Road was blocked for approximately five hours Thursday night and into early Friday morning while investigators from the state patrol and the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office were on scene.
According to the state patrol, Parker was driving a four-door, 2000 Kia Spectra westbound on Big Hanaford Road, with Kalebaugh in sitting in passenger’s seat, when Parker apparently lost control of the car and crossed the centerline into the oncoming lane of traffic. The car swerved, and the passenger’s side slammed into the front of the dump truck, which was hauling an unloaded trailer.
Trooper Will Finn, spokesman for the Washington State Patrol, said speed was a factor in the fatal collision. It is unknown if the causing driver, Parker, was under the influence of drugs or alcohol. A toxicology report is pending and will likely take about a month to complete.
The cause of the collision is still under investigation, Finn said.
The driver of the 2006 Freightliner dump truck, Kevin L. Greer, 52, of Tenino, is not at fault for the collision and will not face charges, according to state patrol.
He was not injured and cooperated fully with the investigation.
