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After tragedy canceled Hamilton Heights prom earlier this month, the high school has rescheduled the dance for early June with an outpouring of donations from the community.
Local businesses have donated the venue, the tuxes and more. Without them, the dance wouldn t have happened, said Whitney Gray, Heights assistant principal.
On May 1, Kalen Hart, a Heights senior, and Lendon Byram, a junior at Cathedral High School, died in a car crash in rural northern Hamilton County on their way to Heights prom in Kokomo. Two other teens were in the back seat and had non-life-threatening injuries.
Hamilton Heights canceled prom and related activities and made grief counselors available at the event venue in Kokomo and at the high school. Both the Heights and Cathedral communities spent that weekend remembering and mourning the two teens.
Authorities have already ruled out drugs or alcohol playing a role in the crash. Author: Steve Jefferson Updated: 5:58 PM EDT May 3, 2021
ARCADIA, Indiana 13News has learned the cause of a fatal crash that killed two high school students and injured three others could become public any day now. The Hamilton County Sheriff s Office has been working nonstop to get to the bottom of why the crash happened after learning preliminarily from witnesses what may have led to the deadly collision. I hope we will learn more sometime this week from our investigators and crash reconstruction team, said Hamilton County Sheriff s Department spokesperson Deputy Ryan McClain.
Two high school students headed to Hamilton Heights prom killed in car crash Arika Herron, Indianapolis Star
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Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly spelled Lendon Byram s name.
Two high school students were on their way to the Hamilton Heights prom Saturday evening when they were killed in a vehicle wreck.
The Hamilton County Sheriff s Office identified the students as Lendon Byram and Kalen Hart. Byram was driving and Hart was the front-seat passenger.
Two other high school-aged passengers in the backseat of the car were taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries, according to the Hamilton County Sheriff s Office.
May 1, 2021 / 11:27 PM EST
ARCADIA, Ind. (WISH) Two Hamilton Heights students died in a Saturday night crash on the way to prom, and the district has canceled all prom activities to provide grief counseling to students.
Hamilton County Sheriff’s Deputy Ryan McClain identified the students who died as Linden Byrum, who was driving, and Kalen Hart, one of the passengers.
Superintendent Derek Arrowood on Saturday shared a message on the district’s Facebook page, saying the students were in an accident on their way to prom, which was being held at the Elite Banquet Center in Kokomo.
Grief counselors and members of faith communities were going to be present at the banquet center in Kokomo and the Hamilton Heights Media Center, Arrowood said.