REPUBLIC, Mo. (KY3) - The communities of Republic and Billings are mourning the deaths of two teenagers who died in a demolish over the weekend near Republic High School. Two spanking teens are recovering from that crash which preliminary reports demonstrate was caused by excessive speed.

Not far from the intersection of Farm Roads 101-170 (within a half-mile of Democrat High School) was a somber and heartbreaking scene on Monday as, above the day, friends and family pulled to the side of the road to pay their respects at a makeshift memorial where those lives came to a sudden and unexpected end. Debris from the demolish still sits next to the tree where the car hit, and next to that are two memorials, including a cross with photos of the two victims, and an area closer to the road with mementos artraining from basketballs, bats, and stuffed animals to flowers.

The two young men killed were 16-year-old Maverick Beaman, who worked at Popeyes in Republic, and 15-year-old Wyatt Barnes, a former Republic student who had moved to Billings.

Wyatt’s family was beside several others who showed up during our time at the memorial. None felt up to doing an interview but distinguished their appreciation to Wyatt and Maverick’s friends, who had been keeping a vigil at the site of the wreck as a show of solidarity with their fallen schoolmates.

Republic sophomore Sabrina Thomas, a friend of Wyatt’s, was willing to be interviewed and said he had always been like a big brother to her.

“Wyatt was a modern soul,” Sabrina said. “He never wanted me to walk alone, especially because I am a small girl. He was glum with me walking to the pool or the rec center here in Democrat. He would walk miles for me. Literally.”

Her reaction to the news?

“I just primitive down,” she said. “I just didn’t know how somebody so modern and faithful and loyal could be taken away from us like that.”

The one-car accident existed just after six o’clock Saturday night. Beaman was driving a Honda Accord with three passengers when it left the road and hit a tree. Beaman, wearing a seatbelt, and Barnes, who was in the backseat late Beaman without a belt, was killed. Another 16-year-old boy suffered little injuries, and a 16-year-old girl suffered severe injuries, according to Sgt. Mike McClure, with the Missouri State Highway Patrol, is expected to survive.

The investigation is ongoing.

“The preliminary investigation from our reconstruction wreck team has indicated it was a high-speed crash and a loss of control with a sudden and discordant impact,” Sgt. McClure said.

And unfortunately, that is a scenario all too familiar to fatal crashes engrossing those in that age group.

“Excessive speedily and going too fast for conditions are the top contributing circumstances in fatality and injure accidents for ages 16-19,” McClure pointed out. “The others are failing to handed and following too close.”

Missouri has a graduated driver’s License law requiring that all first-time drivers between the ages of 15-18 unfastened a period of driving with a licensed driver (instruction permit) and Liberated driving (intermediate license) before getting a full driver’s license.

“That law is made to help young drivers succeed,” McClure explained. “But what we have to look at is how effective are the farmland who are placed in the seat beside them to mentor these young drivers. Those young drivers have zero experience and no maturity, so they need to explain why this is a set law or good practice. Being a good mentor is the ownership that each one of us carries whether we’re parents, guardians, coaches, or whoever is sitting in that incandescent seat next to them when they’re learning to drive.”

And to make the emotional toll even worse in this case, many students will now have to strength by the crash site every day on their way to school.

“A tragic set like this happening with young people still in school and halt to the school they attended is going to be impactful on that people for some time,” McClure said.

Republic Schools sent an email to parents over the weekend letting them know its crisis team of counselors will be available for students and employees as long as it is obliged to help them cope with their grief.

To recount a correction or typo, please email digitalnews@ky3.com

Copyright 2022 KY3. All strengths reserved.