Brownsburg mourns classmate in fatal car crash - 13 WTHR Indianapolis

It will be a tough day at Brownsburg High School Monday as students and staff deal with the death of a student and four other teens injured over the weekend.

Counselors already met with some classmates, and they will be available Monday morning at school, even though the school year has ended, to help those still trying to comprehend the loss of one friend and the injury of four others. 

Officers were dispatched to the 6900 block of CR 550 East in Hendricks County on a report of serious personal injury accident with entrapment early Saturday morning. Officers arrived and found a single vehicle that had struck a tree with five occupants in the vehicle.

Brownsburg High School student Nathan Gentry, 18, was pronounced dead at Methodist Hospital Saturday. He was reportedly a passenger in the middle of the backseat of the car when it crashed.

"He was a likeable kid. I mean, he was a good human being and that's all a parent can hope for, I guess. There's not a lot else in this life that matters when it's all said and done," Gentry's father, Al, said at a vigil Sunday.

Two of Gentry's classmates, 16-year-old Taylor LaMonte and 17-year-old Christopher Hubbard, were taken to Wishard Hospital. Hubbard was reportedly driving the vehicle when it crashed. He is being treated for a hip fracture, punctured lung and a cracked sternum. LaMonte suffered a dislocated knee, broken leg, broken hip, broken pelvis and two broken arms.

Tri-West High School student Sean Bloomquist, 18, is in critical condition at St. Vincent after being transported by air ambulance. Ian Cherco, 16, another Tri-West student, was released from Methodist Hospital Sunday.

Police say Bloomquist was a front seat passenger and the only occupant who was wearing a seat belt.

Crash investigators believe alcohol, marijuana and speed were contributing factors to the crash.

Investigators said Sunday they based their conclusion on evidence collected at the scene, as well as interviews with crash victims and witnesses. Toxicology reports on the victims are pending.

Investigators also said they believed the car was going too fast as it came into the corner, the tires lost grip with the road after hitting loose gravel, which started the car on a spin before hitting the tree.

"This is a bad area," according to Brownsburg Police Sgt. April Hyde, "where kids and adults come speeding around.  We do have complaints. In fact, today we got a complaint from an area resident asking if we could patrol the area a little more because they do come so quickly around the curve."

"I have never seen them wrapped around like that before," said Donna Roberts, who has lived on the road for decades. "In the 50s, my dad and the man who lived in the house just south paid to have the road blacktopped."

For 60-plus years, the road has, more or less, remained the same. There are no center lines or lines marking the shoulder. One thing that has changed over the years, according to Roberts, is the speed of the cars. She has been witness to the aftermath of several crashes, though none as bad as Saturday's, she says it is time for a change.

"A curve is a curve. It has been there a long time, but signs that say 'Yes, it is a curve.' Lower the speed limit through there, paint yellow lines down through the middle, make it a little straighter or a little broader somehow," Roberts said.

While police are investigating why and how the car crashed, friends of the victims have been flooding Facebook with condolences. Several dozen students met counselors and clergy at Brownsburg High School Sunday.