‘It’s hit really hard’: Community mourns teen killed in crash

MT. JULIET, Tenn. (WKRN) — On Thursday, a community gathered to remember a high schooler tragically killed in a crash.

Kyler Gatica and his family were on their way home from a beach vacation when they were involved in a multi-vehicle pile up on Saturday, Oct. 12. He was a junior at Mt. Juliet High School. Students there returned from fall break mourning the loss of a friend.

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“He was my best friend,” Jackson Sanders said. “We did everything together.”

Sanders spoke at the candlelight prayer vigil.

“It’s hit really hard,” Sanders added. “It’s cool to see how the community has got together.”

The loss has been hard on many of the students, including Dustin Cunningham.

“I don’t really have a lot of true friends and I feel like Kyler was really one of them,” Cunningham told News 2. “He was really nice to me and he would talk to me even when it wasn’t convenient for him.”

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“He made sure you were cared for,” friend Isabella Jock said while crying. “He didn’t want you to feel alone. He never let anybody sit alone or be in this self-doubt cloud.”

In a preliminary report, the Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) said that several cars were slowing down due to traffic conditions along Interstate 840 East in Rutherford County when a 2011 Nissan Juke rear-ended Gatica’s family, causing their 2024 Nissan Altima to collide with a 2009 Toyota Corolla, which then crashed into a 2015 GMC Yukon.

Not only was Gatica killed, but four people — including Gatica’s family members, the driver of the Nissan Juke, and the driver of the Toyota — were reportedly injured. However, the two adults and the 9-year-old girl in the GMC were not hurt, according to THP.

Gatica’s friends have been left to lean on each other.

“We don’t have to feel like we’re alone because that’s kind of where some people are at,” Jock added. “But there are so many people at this school who love and cared about him, so they want to be there to support you.”

“I’ll remember him forever,” Sanders said. “It’s not going to be the same.”

Over the weekend, Gatica’s friends painted his parking spot. Usually, that’s a right of passage for high school seniors, but they got the okay from the school to decorate it in Gatica’s honor.

While the community has started healing from their loss, several other people are still recovering from their injuries. The THP added that the crash is still under investigation, but no charges are pending at this time.

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