A pair of suburban communities are in shock and mourning after a crash killed three students in Indiana over the weekend.
Christian Eubanks, a Waukegan native who was set to play football at Indiana State University, was one of three students killed in the single-car crash, which occurred Sunday morning.
Police say the car involved in the crash slammed into a tree and then caught fire, leaving Eubanks and two other students dead.
“There are so many words you can use from a positive standpoint. He was a humble kid,” Landon Cox, director at Beyond Sports, said of Eubanks.
Cox knew the Warren Township standout linebacker before he graduated earlier this summer.
“It was just the toughest news to hear, especially in that situation,” he said. “Especially in a kid with so much promise.”
Jaden Musili, a sophomore from Fort Wayne, and Caleb VanHooser, a football player from Ohio, were also killed in the crash.
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Eubanks’ friend and teammate, John Moore, was also in the vehicle, and was listed in critical condition after the crash.
Moore, who hails from Wheaton, is still recovering from major surgery, according to St. Francis High School assistant coach Jared McGriff-Culver.
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“If his recovery goes well tomorrow, he could actually come back home to Chicago,” he said.
McGriff-Culver praised Moore’s work ethic and his tenacity, traits he says will help him to recover from the horrific crash.
“He understands he wasn’t blessed with different God-given talent, but he just outworks people,” he said.
For now, several communities are left to mourn and to rally together in the aftermath of the tragedy, and officials at Indiana State say that the school will attempt to move through its grief when its football season begins next month.
