Surrounded by family and friends, a Euclid mother visited the scene where her teenage daughter lost her life early Saturday in a car crash.
"I had to come, I had to see it for myself," said Michelle Johnson who wept at a makeshift memorial at the base of a tree on Kirby Avenue at Eddy Road.
Johnson's daughter, 17-year-old Alexandria Winegarner, nicknamed "poopie," was killed as were two of her friends, Deija Wynne and Takia Jackson. They were also 17.
Cleveland Police identified the driver as 20-year-old Kareem Walton, who was injured in the crash along with two other passengers. Walton has been arrested for aggravated vehicular homicide and aggravated vehicular assault. Police said he was speeding. Sources connected to the investigation said he admitted to detectives that he had been using drugs the night of the crash.
Johnson, who lost a son to cancer two years ago, said she did not know Walton.
"This right here [the crash scene] should be some sort of eye opener or wake-up call, a reminder to our young people that safety is number one," she added.
"I'm going to miss her silliness," said Natasha Watts, Winegarner's aunt. "I'm going to miss her heart."
Johnson said she is eager for answers about what led to her daughter's death. But what she does know is that Winegarner, a rising senior at Cleveland's Invictus High School, told her she was heading out Friday night with friends.
"It was just really odd to me at the 2 o'clock hour that she hadn't come home, and I called, and I didn't get an answer," she recalls.
Court records show that Walton was charged twice last month with driving with a temporary permit without a licensed driver in the car. He was also charged with failure to control, speeding and aggravated burglary.
