‘Surreal': Family describes final moments with teen killed in crash after prom

The final memory Tom Mya Lyons' family has of their 18-year-old daughter is a celebratory moment as they sent her off to her senior prom, not knowing she'd never return home. 

"It's all surreal. I can't believe that we sent her off and celebrating her, getting ready to graduate and now we're celebrating her leaving the Earth," her stepfather Charles Parker said. "It's a hard pill to swallow right now."

Lyons was killed in a suburban crash just hours after her senior prom ended in Chicago.

The 18-year-old was killed when the vehicle she was riding in crashed at approximately 4:31 a.m. Sunday on the Sibley Boulevard ramp onto the inbound Bishop Ford Expressway. Video from the scene showed a badly damaged vehicle with a shattered back window and heavy damage visible on the passenger side.

A 16-year-old Riverdale resident was driving the vehicle, and he was not injured in the crash, Illinois State Police said.

Parker said the 16-year-old was Lyons' boyfriend.

"He was cut off trying to get off expressway and lost control. I don’t have full details," he said, though police did not confirm any details surrounding what led to the crash.

Lyons had just attended her senior prom at the Field Museum in Chicago in the hours prior to the crash, according to officials.

"I remember when her and her mom were getting everything together - I'm a man, so I don't know much about that type of stuff - but the planning process and everything that they were doing to get prepared for the prom and picking out the colors, the way the dress was designed, I believe everything was Tom Mya's idea," Parker said.

Parker described his stepdaughter as a music lover who badly wanted to break into the industry in some way, even asking his friends for advice.  

“She wanted to be a DJ. She loved music,” Parker said. “She was quiet, but at the same time, she was ambitious. Just to see how she was interacting with that and some of my friends who are DJs, it’s hard. I can’t believe it.”

Parker said Lyons wanted to go to cosmetology school and be an entrepreneur with both beauty and music.

"Man, she just got a few weeks to graduate, and just to see that she's gone, it's hard," he said.

Friends remembered Lyons as a "jack of all trades." Staff said Lyons was a member of her school's award-winning step team.

"Dance step, DJ, always had a smile on her face," Jeda McClendon, who said Lyons was her first friend, told NBC Chicago. "Never complaining, just a happy and joyful girl to be around."

"She was such a beautiful soul. She was an amazing stepper. So kind to everybody," said friend Neveani Bell. "She told me how much she was proud of me all the time."

Grief counselors were at Homewood-Flossmoor High School Monday, though many of Lyons' classmates were not in school due to “senior ditch day.”

“Tom Mya was more than just a student — she was a vibrant member of our community, a loyal friend, a dedicated classmate, a committed teammate and a positive presence throughout Homewood-Flossmoor High School,” Principal Clinton Alexander said in a statement. “Her energy, kindness and spirit touched the lives of many, and her absence will be deeply felt by us all.”

Some of her classmates made their way to a memorial balloon release on Monday afternoon, paying tribute to a life cut short by tragedy.

“She was a beautiful soul, joking, laughing, smiling,” friend Dylan Kenebrew said. “She was just a good person.”

No further information on the circumstances of the crash was available, and Illinois State Police are continuing to investigate.