Surveillance video catches fatal crash that killed teen

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) - Family and friends gathered Tuesday to remember a Milwaukee high school student killed in a crash over the weekend.

The crash that killed 18-year-old Zion Lewis was caught on surveillance video.

The video shows a car speeding down Teutonia Avenue, passing another car in the bike lane.  That’s when the driver loses control and the car crashes.

Lewis was one of six people in the car at the time.  She was the only one killed.

Lewis’ family is not only mourning her loss, but also dealing with the knowledge that the crash was preventable.

“It really hurts to see how this happened,” said Latrina Cooper, Lewis’ aunt.

Cooper joined a group of family and friends at the crash site for a vigil Tuesday.

It was the first time Cooper went to the site of the crash. “Just to know that she suffered, just that, she suffered going through this, and just how afraid she had to be,” said Cooper.

They wanted to keep her memory alive Tuesday, “Fun loving, always smiling,” said Cooper.

But they can’t shake the image of how she died.

“People are driving way too fast and innocent people are losing their lives,” said Lorraine Perry, another aunt of Lewis.

“They need to slow down, I don’t know what it’s going to take, I don’t know, they’ve taken my niece’s life away, I don’t know what else it’s going to take,” said Cooper.

During the vigil, adults urged the teens there to think about their actions.

“There was drinking and there was drugs, and we want people to know, do not get in the vehicle and drive when you’ve been drinking and doing drugs, or don’t get in the vehicle with someone who has been drinking and doing drugs,” said Perry.

For now, all they can do is light candles and remember Zion.

“It’s nice to see that she was loved by a lot of people, but it’s also sad,” said Cooper.

The five others in the car were injured.

According to the police report, the people in the car were smoking marijuana, and charges for the 18-year-old driver are planned.

Lewis’ aunts are hoping charges are filed, and say it makes them mad that the driver could have been under the influence at the time of the crash.

Lewis’ family has started a go fund me page, you can find the page here.