Southern A&M University Band Members Killed While Changing Tire On Louisiana Highway
Tuesday evening, three members of Southern University A&M College’s Human Jukebox marching band were killed not far from campus.
Gay slammed into the jeep, causing Tyan Williams, 19, Dylan Young, 21, and Broderick Moore, 19, to stop in Natchitoches, Louisiana, to replace the tire. The Louisiana State Police issued a statement explaining that a tractor-trailer driven by Clyde Gay, 62, who sustained no injuries, drifted into the shoulder of I-49, hitting a Jeep the three students were fixing a flat tire on. ”
A 1999 Jeep Laredo was revealed to be stalled on the northbound shoulder of I-49 from the initial investigation. The occupants of the Jeep were attempting to change a tire on the vehicle.
A northbound 1997 Freightliner, driven by 62-year-old Clyde Gay of Coushatta, drifted onto the northbound shoulder, struck the left side of the Jeep, and impacted all three pedestrians, the statement reads. The reasons for the Freightliner drifting are still under investigation.
Williams, Young, and Moore were pronounced dead on the scene after sustaining fatal injuries. Although Gay was restrained, he sustained no injuries. Toxicology tests are routine and pending.
“The crash remains under investigation,” the statement reads. “I’m at a loss for words and utterly devastated,” said Kedric Taylor, Human Jukebox’s Director of Bands, about losing his students, whom he deemed “some of the most promising, humble and talented musicians” he’s had the pleasure of instructing.
The tragedy has united HBCUs as they send their condolences online and support Southern University through this unsudden tragedy. “We are deeply saddened by the tragic deaths of three of our students in a vehicular accident on Tuesday evening in Natchitoches Parish,” Southern University said in a statement. ”
Our thoughts and prayers are with their families, friends, classmates, and other loved ones. We extend our condolences to the Southern University Human Jukebox Marching Band, of which all three young men were members. It was not immediately clear if the deadly accident would result in any criminal charges.
