An Ill-Fated Convergence

Kevin Jordan was headed to his Sunday night ritual, a quick game of pickup basketball in the San Clemente hills with his buddies, when he split away from two carloads of friends to take the back way.

Near San Clemente High, where they went to school together, Jordan’s Alfa Romeo headed in one direction and the two other cars chose a different route, with Kyle Williams out front in his Nissan Maxima.

Moments later, heading in opposite directions, Williams’ car slammed into Jordan’s on Avenida Vista Hermosa within yards of their destination, the lighted basketball courts at Marblehead Park.

Jordan and his front-seat passenger, Aaron Cornwell, both 17 and seven weeks from graduation, were killed instantly.

Williams and his passenger, Matthew E. Hidalgo, survived. They were recovering at home Monday.

“They’re coming from opposite directions. Were they racing to get to the same location? I have no information that they were,” said Lt. Fred Lisanti of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, adding that the incident is still under investigation. “We’re still a bit in limbo.”

News of the tragedy greeted the 2,300 students of San Clemente High as they came to class Monday morning. The school’s flags already were waving at half-staff, a somber memorial to last week’s killings at a high school in Littleton, Colo.

“It’s been a very difficult day for everyone,” school Principal James T. Walshe said.

On Monday, Walshe and other school administrators had planned to talk to the students about the Colorado shootings, to let students know they had a place to turn if they felt frustrated or heard rumors of possible violence, Walshe said. Those sessions will be delayed until later this week because of the accident.

Scores of students who knew Jordan and Cornwell left school shortly after learning about their deaths, overwhelmed by the loss. A few took flowers to the site of the crash, most too emotional to talk. “We love Kevin & Aaron. God be with you,” one note read.

A team of counselors from the district and neighboring high schools descended on the campus to help students cope, and the school library was transformed into an impromptu counseling area where staff members helped the teenagers deal with their grief.

“Young adults don’t expect the death of a friend,” said Dr. Loren O’Connor, the school psychologist. “They just don’t expect it, and when it happens it’s very devastating.”

Orange County sheriff’s deputies said the collision occurred about 8:55 p.m. Sunday when Jordan’s car turned left onto a side street, Via Turqueza, and was struck on the right side by the Nissan, which was going straight. All four students were wearing seat belts, but neither car was equipped with air bags.

Lisanti said there is no evidence that alcohol or excessive speed were involved, although toxicological tests and the accident investigation have yet to be completed.

All three cars started from Cornwell’s house a few miles away. His parents were in Mexico when they were informed about the accident, authorities said.

Although police are still sorting the details of the accident, friends said it wasn’t uncommon for the group to race in their cars.

“We’ve raced before,” said San Clemente High junior Matt Wiechert, a friend of Jordan’s. “We’ve done it on the freeway. Sometimes we’d race up to the high school too.”

Jordan, whose nickname on the soccer field was “ogre” because he was 6-foot-4, was known as a fun-loving and gifted athlete.

“He was just an outgoing kid who always wanted to be doing something,” said friend Todd Jaramillo, a sophomore at San Clemente High who played soccer with Jordan for two years and was in the third car. “Everyone liked him. On the soccer field, when we weren’t playing well, he’d pick us up and be a leader. He would get us back in the game. He’d take charge.”

According to friends, the teenagers had been tight since playing soccer together on elementary school playgrounds.

Cornwell was a talented hockey player headed for Canada, and Jordan was planning to go to Saddleback College after graduation.

“Aaron, he was always a guy you could count on to be there for you,” said Dave Klein, 16, a skateboarding pal and a junior at the school.

Oftentimes, Cornwell helped out friends who got drunk at neighborhood parties. He stayed sober and was always willing to give them rides home, Klein said.

On Monday afternoon, a tearful Joyce Melton of San Clemente came to the site of the deadly crash to leave flowers.

Her son, Braden, was in the third car that night. That car arrived on the scene after the collision, and Braden was with Jordan and Cornwell shortly before the accident.

“My son was going to get in the car with Aaron, and at the last minute decided to get in another car,” she said. “I don’t think these kids will ever get over what they saw.”

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How They Died

Two 17-year olds were killed and two other teenagers were injured when their cars collided Sunday evening in San Clemente. This is what authorities think happened:

1. Both cars exit freeway, take different routes to park.

2. Red Alfa turns onto Via Turqueza and is hit by silver Nissan.

Source: Orange County Sheriff’s Department