Deverin King, a track athlete and student at Evangel University, died in a motorcycle accident on March 30, according to OzarkFirst.com. He was 18 years old. The report says that an orange Ford Explorer was stuck by a motorcycle in the Springfield, Missouri area. King was the motorcyclist, and officers performed life-saving measures on him before his death. According to the Springfield News-Leader, King was done with classes for the day and going home for a quick break before he was due back at practice at 5 p.m. local time for track practice.
“He will be remembered as a hard worker and as somebody who was just so encouraging and that was never going to take a rep off, was never going to complain,” said Evangel track coach Brandon Staley. “But whenever a challenge was put forth, he was going to be the one that was going to pick everybody up and say ‘We can do this, we got this, let’s go get it done.’ I think that is what the kids will remember.”
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Staley also talked about the meeting he had with his athletes about the death of King. “It was difficult. They responded like anyone would expect, a lot of heartache, a lot of confusion and just a lot of questions,” Staley said. “As coaches, we have stayed strong together … while also taking care of our kids. We’ve made sure there were opportunities every day since that they could be together as a team.”
There are two GoFundMe pages to support King’s family. Elisha Viets, a friend of the King family, has raised over $16,000 on her page, while Nash Grantham has raised over $4,200. “Deverin was a bright spark in this world and will be deeply missed. He touched the lives of so many and it’s our turn to give back to his family in their time of need. We are raising money to cover the costs of the funeral and memorial services for Deverin’s family as this passing was completely unexpected.”
A memorial for King has been scheduled at Evangel University’s Spence Chapel on Wednesday. There will also be a memorial ride which is set for Sunday, April 16, where motorcycles, cars and trucks are invited.
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