He said he could sense the Ohio Highway Patrol trooper was preparing himself to deliver the news as he approached McCubbin’s vehicle, stopped behind a law enforcement barricade as officers investigated the scene.
“I said ‘What kind of car was it?’ He said some kind of black Fusion,” McCubbin recalled, wiping his face with one hand, his eyes rimmed red by tears. “I said ‘was it dark blue?’ And he said ‘who you looking for, son?’”
It’s the answer he dreaded.
“Before I could get it out of my mouth, he said it was her,” McCubbin said. “He said, ‘I’m sorry but as a result she was killed in the accident.’ ”
Reed, a former cheerleader and member of the homecoming court at Northeastern High School and a student at Urbana University, was killed when her car went left of center at the intersection.
Her car struck a 2005 Ford Escape driven by Kyle Nelson, 21 of Springfield, head-on. Nelson and a passenger in his vehicle were taken to Springfield Regional Hospital suffering from minor injuries. Reed, Nelson and his passenger were wearing seat belts.
The highway patrol’s Springfield post is still investigating the crash. It’s believed the wet, foggy conditions played a role, said Sgt. Jim Slusher.
McCubbin said Reed was heading to Springfield Regional to visit a friend, whose mother was a patient. He said he was concerned when an hour passed after she’d left his house and hadn’t called or texted, so he went looking for her. Described as “beautiful young, funny and energetic,” McCubbin said he still has trouble grasping that Reed died.
The two had been dating since July, although they’d known each other since childhood. McCubbin said Reed had recently taken a job as a cashier at Kohl’s. When a woman buying toys for Christmas couldn’t afford everything she planned to purchase, McCubbin said his girlfriend paid for the difference out of her own pocket.
“Things like that make her the perfect human being,” he said.
Funeral arrangements were pending Monday night. Calls to Northeastern High School about any counseling being offered there were not returned. McCubbin, who is set to graduate from Southeastern High School this month and hold a concert Dec. 22 before heading off to Nashville, said he never worried about Reed not being in his life. Until now.
“She was a spirit to be reckoned with. I mean, nobody could handle her,” he said. “No matter how big a life you have, you’re not invincible. In my eyes, she was.”
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