HENRICO COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) — The Hermitage High School student who was killed in Tuesday night’s crash has now been identified by family members as 14-year-old Keyon Johnson.
Around 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 19, officers were called to the intersection of Olde West Drive and Kilcolman Drive for a reported single-vehicle crash.
According to police, a vehicle occupied by three 14-year-old boys was traveling at high speed when the driver lost control and went onto the sidewalk, hitting two dogs that were being walked by their owner. The vehicle continued down the road before hitting a tree and a parked car.
The three occupants of the vehicle were all taken to a nearby hospital where one of them — now identified as Keyon — later died. The other two boys had non-life-threatening injuries.
Police said that Keyon was not the driver of the vehicle. The vehicle belonged to the family of one of the juveniles and was not reported stolen.
Keyon’s family described the high school freshman as “a good kid” who loved his family and had a passion for swimming.
“Keyon was a big teddy bear, [an] annoying teddy bear, but he was a loving, sweet, kind young man,” said Machelle Evans, Keyon’s godmother. “He loved to swim, loved the water. Taught himself how to swim.”
The Hermitage High School student who was killed in Tuesday night’s crash has now been identified by family members as 14-year-old Keyon Johnson. (Photo courtesy of Machelle Evans) 
The Hermitage High School student who was killed in Tuesday night’s crash has now been identified by family members as 14-year-old Keyon Johnson. (Photo courtesy of Tisa Walker)
Keyon’s mother is currently on a cruise ship in Rome and was not scheduled to return until Sept. 29. Family members told 8News that Carnival cannot let her off and they are currently working to find out how to bring her home.
“She’s distraught and told us to do whatever we have to do to get her home to be with her baby,” said Jahnea Williams, Keyon’s cousin. “So we’re asking the community to come together as a village for Keyon and help to get her home… she’s in the middle of the sea and she’s lost so we need to get her home so she can be with her son and so she can mourn properly.”
The owner of the dogs that were killed in the crash told 8News that the dogs’ names were Deuce and Ace.
According to police, the dogs and their owner had been walking along the sidewalk of Olde West Drive when the vehicle hit both pets. The owner of the dogs was not injured.
“This incident has affected an immense number of people – from the victims’ families to the Hermitage High School student body, and the surrounding community,” a spokesperson with the police division said. “Henrico Police would like to remind parents/guardians to take precautions to prevent unlicensed minors from operating a vehicle.”
This incident remains under investigation, anyone with information is asked to call Officer T. Holmes with the Henrico County Police Division at 804-501-5000.
