Good Samaritan tries to save Colorado teen who died in crash

A memorial of flowers and photos placed along a bridge off Erie Parkway in Erie now serves as reminders of a family’s heartbreaking loss following a deadly crash early Sunday morning.  

“I haven’t been able to sleep. I keep seeing everything repeating over and over in my head and I’ve cried myself out,” said Marco Leyva.

Friends and family gather at a memorial near the crash site on Erie Parkway just before Briggs Street.

CBS

Leyva, who lives a short walk from the crash site, was one of the first to respond to the incident. Two 18-year-old men were riding in the car when it struck the guardrail on the curve along Erie Parkway just before Briggs Street early Sunday morning. It was one of two deadly crashes over the weekend in the town.

“The impact was so forceful it shook my house,” said Leyva. “Sure enough, over by the bridge, I see smoke.”

That’s when he raced into action.

“I’d seen the other kid, he was sitting in the passenger seat breathing, and it looked like he was still okay, so my priority was to try to get the driver out

Leyva tried to pull the 18-year-old driver out, but says he was stuck inside.

“I’d seen the flames, and I was just thinking to myself, ‘I have to try to get [them] out before they burn,'” said Leyva. “I’d seen the other kid. He was sitting in the passenger seat breathing, and it looked like he was still okay, so my priority was to try to get the driver out.”

Moments later, police and fire crews arrived at the scene, but Leyva knew it was too late.

“It’s just unfortunate that they couldn’t save him,” he said.

While the crash remains under investigation, Erie police initially reported the 18-year-old driver who passed away was driving extremely fast.

CBS Colorado’s Gabriela Vidal interviews Marco Leyva.

CBS

“I could not get what had happened out of my head, I haven’t,” said Leyva.

On Monday night, the 18-year-old’s family and friends came together to honor the young man’s life in the place he died, while praying for the other 18-year-old in the car, who was hospitalized following the incident.

The family asked CBS Colorado not to share the 18-year-old’s name.

I don’t want to blame this young man for anything,” said Leyva. “There were times I wrecked myself and almost lost my life in a car accident. I was lucky enough to survive.”

A heartbreaking incident that has sparked conversation among the community about their concerns about driving on this stretch of road.

“[People] think it’s a speedway and it’s really not. I would just advise people to be careful when driving down Erie parkway. This is evidence of it,” said Leyva.

He hopes it’s an opportunity for drivers to practice safer behavior on the road, and for more oversight.

“Maybe some speed cameras will help encourage people to slow down because once you start getting into people’s pockets, they start paying a little more attention to what they’re doing,” said Leyva.

The family says they’re grateful Leyva tried to step in and help the 18-year-old, but they never expected to find out this good Samaritan was related to them.

The memorial for a teen killed in a crash in Erie. 

CBS

The 18-year-old’s grandmother says, in a turn of events, both the family and Leyva found out on Monday that he was related to the 18-year-old’s father, and, thus, was one of the last people to hold his nephew before he passed.

“I wish that there was something I could’ve done to perhaps save him, but I just couldn’t,” said Leyva.