Motorcycle Accident Kills Irvine Youth

A 16-year-old boy was killed early Saturday when he apparently lost control of a motorcycle he had just purchased a few weeks ago.

California Highway Patrol officials said the Irvine High School student, Sage Keagy, and an unidentified 17-year-old male passenger were traveling at a high rate of speed north on Irvine Boulevard, just north of Q Street about 12:20 a.m. when Keagy reportedly lost control of the Kawasaki motorcycle while rounding a curve.

Authorities said the motorcycle flipped several times in the air and landed on the dirt shoulder of southbound Irvine Boulevard.

Keagy suffered fatal head injuries, while the passenger received only minor cuts and was not hospitalized.

Neither Keagy nor the passenger was wearing helmets, authorities said.

The victim’s mother, Susan B. Keagy, said her son greatly valued his independence and had purchased the motorcycle about three weeks ago without the permission of his parents.

Susan Keagy said her son, an average student, was showing consistent improvement in his grades and enjoyed many activities away from the high school campus.

“He liked computers and motorcycles,” she said, adding that he followed Libertarian Party politics closely. “School wasn’t the most important thing to him. He was always following whatever his interests were at the time.”