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DAYTON — Tim Zellers sat in a Miami Valley Hospital waiting room Monday looking at a photograph of himself and his best friend Aron Beverly dressed in tuxedos for prom.

The photo was one of the few that showed Aron with his signature black cowboy hat.

"Him without the cowboy hat is just not right," Zellers said.

The hat now rests on Zellers' head and has been there ever since a fatal crash that claimed Beverly's life Saturday night on Arbor Boulevard in Moraine.

Zellers, 22, of Laura, survived the crash, along with Beverly's girlfriend, Chassity Rinderle, 19, of Rossburg.

Beverly, 20, of Tipp City was driving his pickup truck south on Interstate 75 at an excessive speed and struck another vehicle while changing lanes, Moraine Police Sgt. Russ Imler said. Beverly lost control, causing the pickup to hit the guardrail, go over it and fall 22 feet onto Arbor Boulevard. No one was wearing seat belts.

Beverly died at the scene. Rinderle, who was the front-seat passenger, was taken to Miami Valley Hospital, where she was taken into surgery.

"She's got a lot of broken bones," Zellers said.

Zellers said he has scrapes on his back. "I landed on my back on the roof (of the truck)," he said.

Richard Ahmadi, 22, of Englewood, said he was the driver of the car that Beverly's truck hit. Monday night, he said he did not seek medical attention after the incident and did not want to comment about the wreck.

Kathy Davis, chairwoman for the public relations committee for the Miami Valley Mounted Search and Rescue team, said Beverly is a former a member of the team — a volunteer group of 25 who assist law enforcement agencies — and Zellers has been a member for at least two years.

Zellers said he and Beverly shared a fondness for riding horses and bulls.

"We were on our way to ride bulls for a competition," when the accident occurred, Zellers said.

Zellers said he was conscious, but didn't know the truck had gone over the guardrail until he crawled out of the truck's back window and saw his two friends, who had been ejected from the truck.

Zellers said he thought Beverly, who was on his stomach, would survive because he had seen him gasp for air, so he said he turned his attention to Rinderle until he learned Beverly had died.

Later, Zellers noticed Beverly's cowboy hat, which he wanted to put with Beverly's casket but decided to keep after Beverly's mother told him he could have it.

"He was more like my brother," Zellers said.

Beverly graduated from Milton-Union High School last year. He was an electrician, loved to line dance and play paintball, Zellers said.

Contributions to offset Beverly's funeral expenses can be made at any Huntington Bank in Dayton or West Milton, Davis said.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2414 or kwynn@DaytonDailyNews.com.