A teen was killed early Tuesday after four 15-year-old boys took one of their parents' cars before 2 a.m. and accidentally struck a house in west suburban Aurora.
Police said Devin Meadows, 15, was a passenger in the backseat of the Chevy Malibu that apparently lost control around 1:43 a.m. while traveling north on Stonebridge Boulevard.
The vehicle jumped a curb, knocked over some trees, then slammed into the garage of a house on the 2700 block of Hamman Way, police said. There's no current indication, police said, that alcohol played a role.
Meadows, a Metea Valley High School student, was ejected from the car and pronounced dead at the scene, police said. The driver and two other passengers had minor injuries. No one was injured inside the house.
"We assume they were traveling at a high rate of speed," said Lt. Pete Inda.
Homeowner Joshila Chandra woke up to the house shaking and the surviving boys frantically ringing the doorbell for help. They looked out the window and saw Meadows lying lifeless in the street, roughly 50 feet away from the impact.
"It may be classified as a joy ride," said Inda. "We don't know. We're still investigating. We're not sure exactly what they were doing out at this time."
Broken-hearted students from Metea Valley High School arrived to the crash scene Tuesday where their classmate died.
"We wanted to see where it happened and wanted to pray over where he had died," said sophomore Taylor Mansmith, who noted the hallways of the school were silent this morning. "No one talks. Everyone cries. Even if we don't really know each other, we try to comfort each other. It's really hard."
Meadows' classmates describe the sophomore football player as a good person and extremely popular.
"He was just a part of everyone's life at Metea," said sophomore classmate Amanda Reeves.
Police said the driver was questioned and released. Pending toxicology results, the driver could face criminal charges. Police said none of the teens had a driver's license.
