Teens On Teen Driving

what happened? 

Family Mourns Death of Winston Churchill Senior
Stepfather Says He Lived a Diverse Life, 'From Sports to Skateboard to Guitar'

By Lori Aratani and Daniel de Vise
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, January 23, 2008; B05

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/22/AR2008012202082_pf.html

It was a difficult conversation. Yesterday, Richard McManus picked up the phone and dialed his neighbors down the street.

"He expressed his condolences," said Geoffery Mack, who took the call. "It was a heartfelt conversation between two fathers and two families."

Early Monday, Mack's stepson, Brenton Thomas Everson, was killed in a car accident. McManus's son, Richard "Drew" McManus, was driving the vehicle. He survived.

"We harbor no ill will," Mack said.

Since November, auto accidents have killed about a dozen suburban Maryland teenagers.

Everson, 17, was riding in a 2007 Mazda driven by Churchill High schoolmate McManus, 16, about 2:30 a.m. Monday, Montgomery County police said. Investigators said McManus apparently lost control of the car as he was driving west on Tuckerman Lane near Duryea Drive in Potomac. The car crossed the center line and struck curbs, a fence, a utility shed and a tree, authorities said. The investigation is continuing.

Maryland law prohibits teenagers from driving between midnight and 5 a.m. for two years after receiving their licenses.

Everson's parents said the boys were returning home from a late-night outing to a CVS drugstore when the accident occurred. Everson, who was not wearing a seat belt, was thrown from the car, police said. Of the teenagers who have died in auto accidents since November, at least eight were not wearing seat belts.

Everson, a Churchill senior, was taken to Suburban Hospital in Bethesda, where he was pronounced dead. McManus was briefly hospitalized and released.

The elder Richard McManus declined to speak with a reporter in detail about the accident, but he released the following statement: "Most of all, at this time, our thoughts and prayers are with the Everson family as they cope with this senseless tragedy. We are devastated and heartsick at the loss of their beautiful son, Brenton, who according to our son, was a 'great kid.' We are thankful to God that our son Drew, survived the accident."

Mack said his stepson had diverse interests -- including sports, skateboarding and guitar. His favorite course at Churchill was Asian studies, Mack said.

Everson was 4 when he lost his father, Louis Alvin Everson, to colorectal cancer.

"He always felt like he should be the man of the house," said his mother, Cheryl Everson-Mack, "always trying to protect me and his sister and trying to make sure that we were taken care of."

He made his college selections carefully, his stepfather said. He had received acceptance letters from University of Maryland campuses in Baltimore County and on the Eastern Shore.

"He wanted to be close enough so he could get here, but far enough away that we couldn't just show up," he said, smiling at the memory.

By Tuesday morning, as word spread through the Churchill community, Everson's friends set up a memorial page on Facebook, a popular social networking site. The page, with the heading "RIP BRENTON EVERSON MISS YOU FOREVERRRRR," features a photo of Everson in a pinstripe suit and a blue shirt.

The site also has the message: "for all those people who knew brentons amazing personality heres to him. Every one loved Brenton he was always the guy to be around.'' Tamar Nazarian, who created the tribute, said in an e-mail, "Brenton was one of my good friends and I'm really going to miss him." She said students were planning to gather after school today for a quiet memorial near the crash site.

In a letter to be sent home to Churchill parents, Principal Joan Benz wrote that Brenton "was a truly gifted athlete and participated in both basketball and football at Churchill. Brenton was a talented musician and played several instruments including the piano, trombone, drums and guitar." Grief counselors will be at the school today, Benz said.

Everson was involved in community service through two organizations, Jack & Jill of America and a local group called Just Friends, his parents said. He was also active at Zion Baptist Church on Blagden Avenue NW in the District. The family has scheduled a wake at the church at 9:30 a.m. Monday, with a funeral service to follow at 11 a.m.

Mack said arrangements are being made to establish a memorial fund in Everson's name.