RICHFIELD, Utah (ABC4) — A parent’s worst nightmare happened Tuesday when three friends were out for a drive and the driver lost control of the vehicle, killing 15-year-old Erik Alldredge who was hanging out of the sunroof.
ABC4’s Elena Castro spoke with the victim’s aunt, Sandi Young, who said he passed doing what he loved.
“He loved going in the mountains and just cruising around with his friends and that’s what he died doing,” Young said.
The crash happened around 7:50 p.m. Tuesday night on Cottonwood Canyon Rd. about three miles from the water tower west of Richfield. The three teens were riding in a 2000 Hyundai Sonata when the 14-year-old at the wheel lost control of the vehicle. The victim’s body has not yet made it to the family.
Young said, “We’re still in shock, we haven’t had the opportunity to see Erik yet… because we
haven’t actually seen him, it hasn’t completely hit home to us yet that [this] is what has happened.”
Utah Highway Patrol reported that the minors were given alcohol by 27-year-old Carlos Reyes. Reyes has now been charged with a class A misdemeanor and has been booked into the Sevier County Jail. Additionally, the 14-year-old is now being charged with manslaughter and obstruction of justice.
“It’s already heartbreaking enough that we’ve lost my nephew,” Young said. “But it’s also heartbreaking for me as a mother just even thinking about, ‘What if that was one of my children that was behind the wheel and had done that?’”
The family expressed gratitude for the first responders and law enforcement for their help to understand how this happened and being so giving of their time to help them.
Young said the family has been overwhelmed with the outpouring of love they’ve received from the community and people she said they don’t even know.
This investigation is still developing.
