RELATED: Services set for teen killed by train
“I just hope this raises awareness with every single parent in this community,” the teen’s uncle, Joshua Fernandez, said Monday, when grief counselors were on hand at Centerville High.
The elder Fernandez added, “You’ve got to talk with the children because this is what happens when something goes wrong….All these videos on YouTube of people doing this exact same stunt and not dying is what encouraged these kids to do this. People should stop posting this stuff.”
RELATED: State ranks high in rail pedestrian casualties
A service for Joseph Fernandez is set for Thursday in Centerville.
The fatality that happened about 7:40 p.m. Friday is considered an “an accidental death for now” with no indication of suicide, said Cindi Threlkeld of the Miamisburg Police Department.
The railroad crossing arms and signals “were working exactly how they were intended to,” she said, noting there are “multiple avenues we’re investigating right now.”
This news organization has requested a copy of the police report involving the accident.
RELATED: 9-1-1 caller: Teen was laying on tracks
A 911 caller told a dispatcher Friday night “I guess he didn’t hear the train” before admitting Fernandez had laid down on the tracks.
“I think he had the idea of laying on the tracks and tried to survive it,” the caller said.
The teen was a native of Huntington, N.Y., according to his obituary. Joshua Fernandez said his nephew had recently joined the Elks’ wrestling team after moving from North Carolina about a year ago.
“He loved” his new surroundings, his uncle said.
“He was the gentlest kind I know,” Joshua Fernandez said. “He was just so loving. He would just come over and hug me. You don’t see a 16-year-old do that…..just come and hug me out of the blue.”
Ohio ranked ninth in 2016 among U.S. states in pedestrian rail trespass casualties, according to the Federal Railroad Administration.
RELATED: Train came to a screeching halt
Last year the state recorded 34 rail-related pedestrian casualties – defined as injuries and deaths — including 16 people who died, FRA figures show.
Administration data shows 994 casualties nationwide last year, led by California’s 191, including 101 people who died.
Other states high on the list – from No. 2 through No. 8, respectively – include Texas (89 casualties, 38 deaths), Florida, (63, 37), New York (54, 27), Pennsylvania (45, 26), Illinois (39, 22), Georgia (35, 19) and North Carolina (35, 23), according to the FRA.
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A memorial gathering for Joseph Fernandez is scheduled from 3 to 8 p.m. Thursday at Routsong Funeral Home, 81 N. Main St., Centerville, according to his obituary.
“He loved his family. He adored his mother. He was just a happy teenager,” Joshua Fernandez said. “And this just breaks the whole family – and unite us to love him and remember him.”
His uncle added, “He loved it here. He was very happy. He was very happy with his friends. And I’m glad he spent his last time here.”
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