Fun-loving 16-year-old Kasandra Fowler wasn”t happy unless everyone was smiling.
That makes the death of the Caledonia High School sophomore in a Lowndes County car wreck Saturday seem even more harsh, friends said.
Fowler, of 262 Winter Cove in Caledonia, died of severe head injuries after the car she and her two 16-year-old friends were in swerved to miss a deer and flipped five times at about 9:30 p.m. in the 6500 block of Wolf Road, east of the Columbus Air Force Base.
Her friend, Tabitha Cantrell, of 56 Anderson Grove Road in Caledonia, was driving the maroon 1996 Chevrolet Lumina into Columbus after dropping off another friend, said back-seat passenger Alison Adair, of 502 Martin Road in Caledonia.
“I don”t remember what happened except the last three flips,” she said.
The two Caledonia High School juniors were treated for moderate injuries at Baptist Memorial Hospital-Golden Triangle and released.
Lowndes County Coroner Greg Merchant said whether or not the students were wearing their seat belts is still under investigation, but evidence at the scene suggested they were.
The mood at the school was somber Monday as news spread of the fatal wreck, said Tyler Treece, classmate and friend of Fowler.
“It was so quiet today at CHS,” he said. “I have never seen it this quiet.”
The Fellowship of Christian Athletes prayer meeting during break at the school was “crammed full,” he added.
“There wasn”t a single person who wasn”t very sad or crying,” he said. “The sobs were just another reminder that you can”t take life for granted.”
Treece, Adair and others said they would miss Fowler for her personality and humor.
“Oh Lord, this girl”s nuts,” said long-time friend and classmate Karey Elam, who was in the car shortly before the crash. “She just hand that personality. If you were sad, she”d make you laugh.”
“She was a crazy, goofy person,” Adair added. “She was pretty random and easily amused by anything.”
She will be greatly missed by all, Treece said.
“We will never forget her, not only in our hearts but in our minds,” he said. “She had a special place and meaning to everybody.”
Visitation will be tonight from 6 to 8 at Woodland Baptist Church on Ridge Road. The funeral service will be in the building the following day at 1 p.m.
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