Vigil held in Black Forest to remember 12-year-old boy killed in a car crash 1 year ago today
Marina Garcia
BLACK FOREST, Colo. (KRDO) – It’s been exactly one year since 12-year-old Chase Culp was tragically killed in a car crash at the intersection of Shoup and Herring Road.
Chase and his father were on their way home from basketball practice when a 75-year-old man did not stop at a stop sign and collided with the father and son’s car.
To commemorate his anniversary, his parents say they thought hard about how to make the best of the gathering.
They invited Chase’s old teammates from the Eagles basketball team, friends, and family to spend the day playing kickball at his home before heading to the site of the incident for a candlelight vigil.
Though it has been a year, his parents tell me it feels like it was yesterday.
“I think throughout the week…I was reflecting on how young he was and how I will probably miss him more than the years I had to spend with him,” says Chase’s Mother, Leisa Garcia-Culp.
His parents say they are grateful for the community and the Eagles basketball team that have continued to support them and show love for their cherished Chase.
If there is a silver lining to this tragedy, it’s that the crash brought attention to the dangers of the Shoup and Herring Road intersection.
El Paso County has since outfitted the stop sign with solar-powered flashing lights and a warning that cross traffic does not stop, to hopefully prevent a crash, like the one last year, from happening again.