Teammates, Family Bid Crash Victim Farewell

One by one, members of the UC Irvine track team placed yellow roses next to James Walsh’s casket Friday afternoon, a symbol of their friendship with the freshman who was killed in a controversial car crash last weekend.

The 18-year-old died Sunday when his car slammed into a ditch near Norco. His parents found his body, lying in the brush, more than 10 hours after Riverside County sheriff’s deputies left the scene.

At the West Community Friends Church in Corona, there was scarcely a mention of the accident as friends and family chose to remember the way Walsh lived.

“ ‘I promise you the stars,’ ” his father, Rick, said at the memorial. He was quoting from a caption written on his son’s picture taken at a high school winter formal dance, that he found at the accident scene.

“What he didn’t know was that he kept that promise every day.”

Dozens of Walsh’s track teammates in blue-and-gold team jackets arrived by bus for the funeral. Walsh, a high school track star, was a college walk-on who earned the distinction of being the only freshman sprinter on the team.

“He stood out among the group,” said Coach Ben Cesar. “He was a great guy, a great friend to his teammates.”

Sheriff Bob Doyle said Friday he was considering changing department policy as a result of the accident.

Walsh’s parents said they were never contacted by deputies about the crash, even though they are the registered owners of the car their son was driving. The parents said they had to call the Sheriff’s Department and then a tow truck company to find out their son had been in a collision.

“I don’t want any parent to ever have to go through this again,” Doyle said. “No parent should have to find their child after an auto accident at the scene.”

The law requires that vehicle owners be contacted by mail when their vehicle is towed. In most cases, someone from the Sheriff’s Department also tries to call the owner, Doyle said.

Doyle said that was the case Sunday when a dispatcher tried to call Jeannette Walsh. The number was unlisted, however, and no further attempt was made to reach the Walshes, he said.

“I’ll probably be instituting [a policy] where, in cases like that, we would try to send a unit to the registered owners’ home to make contact with them,” Doyle said.

Sheriff’s officials also are investigating why deputies failed to find Walsh’s body and if disciplinary action was warranted, Doyle said.

“We are all very distraught about the situation and our part in this tragedy,” he said. “Our hearts go out to the family. Certainly the deputies involved are very distraught.”

A preliminary autopsy released Wednesday determined the UC Irvine student had died at or near the time of impact, before the deputies arrived.

Walsh’s father said he disputed that conclusion, but he did not elaborate.

Jeannette Walsh said she was not certain her son’s death could have been prevented but said the way the Sheriff’s Department handled the situation was “unacceptable.”

The cause of the crash is being investigated, and initial findings indicate that the car went off the road and flipped. James Walsh was ejected through the driver’s window and suffered fatal head injuries, sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. Earl Quinata said.

At 1:17 a.m., a passerby called 911 to report the accident. Two deputies and a community service officer arrived five minutes later and found the 2001 Oldsmobile Alero upright in a ditch near the road, Quinata said.

Deputies checked near the car and on the road for anyone who might have been walking away from the accident, Quinata said. After investigating for a couple of hours, he said, deputies left. Rick Walsh said earlier this week, however, that the tow truck operator who removed the car told him that when he left the scene about 2 a.m., the two deputies were preparing to leave.

A computer engineering major, James Walsh recently volunteered to coach the track team at his alma mater, Ayala High School in Chino Hills, where he held a record for the 400-meter relay.

In his eulogy, Pastor Dave Hamman told of Walsh’s “serious, contemplative side.” How he took four years of French despite his father’s protests that Spanish would be more practical.

He also described a fun-loving, charismatic young man who would wake up at 5 a.m. to head to his favorite Orange County surf spot, a place where he dreamed of living one day.

“That light in his face, that’s him, that’s him 100%,” said his 15-year-old brother, Tim.

Gesturing to a picture of his brother in his varsity jacket, “that’s him right there,” then with his hand over his heart, “right here” and pointing to the sky “and there too.”