NSU Remembers Students Killed In Crash

A prayer vigil was held Monday night for five Northeastern State University students killed in a car crash on Sunday.

Hundreds of students gathered to remember the five students who lost their lives in a deadly crash this weekend.

“It's sad just to hear about any of your classmates passing away whether you know them or not just because your heart hurts,” said Chase McNutt.

McNutt and Drake Walls were pledge brothers of Kappa Sigma. The brothers say it was so hard to hear the news especially after singing happy birthday to Walls an hour before.

“It's pretty surreal,” said Trevor Lindley. “It just goes to show you could be happy and then be gone.”

According to OHP, Walls, Donovan Caldwell, Jessica Swartwout, Lily Murphy and Rhianna Seely died when their pickup crashed through a guardrail and drove off of Welling Bridge in Cherokee County.

Related Story: NSU Campus Mourns After Tragic Loss Of Five Students

Faculty and staff at the college say this is a tragic loss for their community.

Many students tonight told me that the five killed were incredibly outgoing and that they will remember the fun memories they shared with them while they were here.

Many of the Students say they just couldn't believe it when they heard the news, trying to comprehend why five young lives were lost so soon.

“My roommate said there was an accident and she started telling me, but I was still, couldn’t believe it,” said one student. “I just couldn't understand it.”

Her friend added, “You know we all said see you later because we thought we would but now we can’t.”

OHP says the cause of the crash and the condition of the driver prior to the crash are still under investigation.

On Wednesday, you can support the families affected by eating at one of six Chili's locations from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Chili's in Tahlequah, Muskogee, McAlester, Ardmore, Rogers, Arkansas and Fayetteville, Arkansas will donate 10-percent of their day sales to the families of NSU students who died.