Vigil Set for Teens Killed in Wreck

ELYSIAN FIELDS — The Elysian Fields community is set to gather Wednesday to honor the memory of two teens who died in a car crash early Saturday morning. That’s according to KETK and the Longview News-Journal. Dexter Willie, 19, and Kristopher Ephriam, 17, were very close friends, Elysian Fields ISD Athletic Director Scott Ford said Monday. Ford said the two were going to get a haircut about 8 a.m. Saturday in DeBerry when they were killed in a head-on collision with a tractor-trailer. “Dexter graduated from Elysian Fields High School last year, and Kris was a sophomore,” Ford said. “They were both excellent football players, great friends and had a tremendous sense of humor. This is a special kind of pain I’ve never dealt with before. It’s been very hard.”

A candlelight vigil is set for 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at the high school football field. In case of rain, the vigil will be moved to the gym, Ford said. A joint funeral is set for Saturday at the high school football stadium. The funeral and burial times still were pending as of Monday afternoon.

According to Department of Public Safety Trooper Jean Dark, Willie was driving the pickup that he and Ephriam were riding in on Texas 31 in DeBerry. The two were driving south when their pickup went into a ditch, overcorrected and entered the northbound lane, hitting the tractor-trailer head on, she said Monday. Willie was pronounced dead at the scene, while Ephriam was transported to a hospital and died later that day. Ford said he visited the crash site Monday.”It’s just a two-lane road with no shoulder,” he said. The driver of the tractor-trailer was not injured.