The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
Canastota student killed in accident
CANASTOTA, N.Y. » A Canastota High School student is dead after his pickup truck hit a tree on Lewis Point Road.
Police say Coby R. Stevens, 16, of C a na s t ot a , was driving a pickup truck s outh on Lewis Point Road around 1:16 p.m. Thursday when several motorists saw the vehicle swerve off the road and into a tree. At least one witness called 911 to report the accident.
Madison County deputies and emergency medical personnel responded to the scene, where Stevens was pronounced dead. A passenger in Stevens’s truck was transported to Upstate Hospital in Syracuse with injuries that were not life-threatening.
Stevens played several sports at Canastota High School, including wrestling and football.
“It is with a heavy heart that I must inform you of the death of one of our students,” Superintendent June Clarke wrote on the Canastota Central School web-
site. “Junior Coby Stevens was killed earlier today in a one-vehicle accident. Our deepest condolences go out to Coby’s family in the face of what can only be described as an unimaginable loss.”
Friends and fellow students Devon Miller, 17, Kendyl Oster, 16, and Jacob Drummond, 17, were on Lewis Point Road on Saturday, Aug. 25, where a cross has been erected near the site of the accident. There, they signed Stevens’s football helmet and left messages.
“We found out around 20 minutes after the accident happened,” Miller said. “Me and four other teammates drove out to see what happened, but they had the road blocked off.”
Miller said they didn’t know how serious the accident was until they talked with police and family members of the victims on the scene.
“We lost a good friend to everyone. A loved one,” Miller said. “Everyone loved him.”
“It didn’t seem real at first,” Oster said.
Drummond said there was a candle light vigil Friday night and a memorial service at Clark Park on Thursday.
The school had crisis counselors available at the school beginning at 9:30 a.m. on Friday for all students and staff.
“Please keep the Stevens and Appler families in your thoughts and prayers,” Clarke wrote.
Drummond said the football team wants to win the championship for Stevens.
“We want to do everything we can for him,” Miller said. “We want to keep him always in mind and memory.”
“We want to make sure no one forgets him,” Oster said.
The sheriff’s office was assisted by Canastota Fire Department, the Greater Lenox Ambulance Service, and the New York State Police. The accident remains under investigation.