Classmates, friends gather and spot where crash killed Victoria Deverso and sent two others to hospital
Mourners, including freinds and classmates of Liverpool High School junior Victoria Deverso, gather Wednesday at the site of her fatal car accident Monday along Rt. 31 in the Madison County town of Sullivan. Sullivan, NY -- Wracked by sobs, a crowd of more than 200 friends, family and schoolmates remembered Victoria Deverso Wednesday evening, gathering for a vigil at the site where she died in a two-car crash Monday afternoon.
Dressed in shorts and T-shirts in summer-like heat, those who came formed a rough circle around two wooden white crosses that marked the spot near the intersection of Route 31 and Lucas Road in Sullivan. It was at that spot that Deverso was taken from a crumpled SUV after a crash that has left two other people hospitalized. The ground near the crosses still showed scorch marks.
Young people hugged each other tearfully as others laid flowers, candles, teddy bears and other stuffed animals, photographs of Deverso and letters addressing her around the crosses. They tied balloons to the crosses and used a black marker to share their thoughts on the painted wood. People talked quietly and traffic, slowed by police, passed by on Route 31.
Two girls neared the crosses and read a poem remembering Deverso. The crowd moved in closer to hear, as emotion choked the girls’ voices.
Moments later Deverso’s father, Chris Deverso, approached the crosses. He dropped to his knees and cried out his daughter’s name, clutching a bouquet of red roses to his face.
After awhile, Chris Deverso composed himself, stood and thanked the young people for coming. “My daughter wasn’t the perfect girl,” he said. “She only wanted the best for everyone.”
He asked them to not let his daughter’s death be in vain. “For all your lifetime, if you can change one person, do it for Victoria.”
A friend of Chris Deverso offered a prayer asking that God comfort Victoria Deverso’s family and friends in this trying time.
Afterward, the friend, Terry “Tex” Kent, of Cicero, said Victoria used to watch his children. “She was amazing,” he said.
Contact Charles McChesney at cmcchesney@syracuse.com.