2 Indiana high school students were on their way to prom Saturday when they were killed in a car crash.
The following written content by Arika Herron/Indianapolis Star
INDIANAPOLIS — Two high school students were on their way to a prom Saturday evening when they were killed in a vehicle wreck.
Lendon Byram and Kalen Hart died in the crash, the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office said. Byram was driving and Hart was the front-seat passenger, and two other students in the car were injured.
Hart’s Instagram page says she was a member of the Class of 2021 at Hamilton Heights, where the prom was being held. The small district in northern Hamilton County is about 45 minutes from downtown Indianapolis. Byram was a member of the Class of 2022 at Cathedral High School in Indianapolis.
Two other high school-aged passengers in the backseat of the car were taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, according to the sheriff’s office. A driver was in the other car, an SVU, and declined medical treatment at the scene.
Superintendent Derek Arrowood announced the news on the school corporation’s Facebook page. The district canceled all prom-related activities and said it would have grief counselors available at the event venue and at the high school.
“We share our heartfelt condolences to the families of the students impacted by this tragedy,” Arrowood said in a statement released Saturday night. “No one expects something like this to happen, and when it does, it leaves an entire community grieving. Please keep these families and our students in your thoughts and prayers.”
In a Facebook fundraiser seeking $15,000, Kalen Hart’s mother, Jody Bartrom Conaway, posted she was raising money to help pay for the funeral and burial expenses.
“No parent should ever have to bury their child,” she wrote.
In another post, with a photo of Byram and her daughter, Conaway wrote: “This was taken at my moms retirement party a few weeks ago. I didn’t even get to see my baby girl in her prom dress. I love you so much, Kalen Rae! I am so proud of the young woman you were becoming. Rest easy my baby girl.” Read more from USA Today.
