Alcohol, speed, drugs factor in teen deaths on North 19th Avenue

By TED SULLIVAN, Chronicle Staff Writer

Excessive speed was a factor in the Oct. 18 accident on North 19th Avenue that killed two Bozeman High students, who were also found to have alcohol and marijuana in their systems, police said Wednesday after completing a three-month investigation.

Geoffrey David Cherry, 17, a senior, was driving the 1984 Toyota Celica and Kayle Ingram, 16, a junior, was in the passenger seat when they were killed in a head-on collision Oct. 18 at 5:35 p.m.

They were not wearing seat belts.

Both boys had blood-alcohol levels of less than 0.08, the legal driving limit for adults, Bozeman Police Chief Mark Tymrak said. It is unknown where the boys had been drinking prior to the crash.

They also tested positive for marijuana, although Tymrak noted that the drug can be traced in a person for several days after it is smoked and he couldn't pinpoint when the boys had used the drug.

A spokesperson for the Montana Crime Lab in Missoula said Wednesday the lab would not release further information as to whether the boys were high at the time of the accident.

Following the the accident, many area residents raised questions about road improvements and a median under construction on North 19th, arguing that those things had contributed to the wreck.

But Cherry was driving more than 70 mph in a 35 mph construction zone marked with signs, orange cones and lights, Tymrak said.

And the median he struck only became part of the crash following his reckless driving.

"I think the construction zone was appropriately marked," Tymrak said, adding that it was light outside.

Cherry was driving north in the right lane, speeding past traffic in the left lane, just before the two lanes merged into one, south of Interstate 90.

Cherry merged into the left lane as his lane ended, hit the median and flipped the car into oncoming traffic. The car landed on the driver's side, its top exposed in the southbound lane.

A man driving south in a full-size Chevrolet Silverado truck, unable to stop, smashed into Cherry's front end and peeled the top off the Celica.

Cherry was killed instantly in the crash. Ingram died while being airlifted to a Billings hospital. The driver of the truck received 14 stitches at Bozeman Deaconess Hospital and was released.

Students at the high school mourned the deaths of Cherry and Ingram at school the following day. They honored them with memorials and signs. They said the boys enjoyed sports, video games, movies and joking around.

The Bozeman Police Department and Montana Highway Patrol have closed their investigation on the crash, Tymrak said.

Messages left for family members of Cherry and Ingram were not immediately returned Wednesday afternoon.

Ted Sullivan is at tsullivan@dailychronicle.com

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