Make wishtv.com your home page

DeKalb community mourns deaths of football players

 DEKALB COUNTY, Ind. (WANE) – The DeKalb High School community is reeling after now two of its football players have died after a Friday traffic crash.

Lucas Oberkiser, 16, died early Tuesday, the school announced. The 16-year-old was involved in a car crash around 4 p.m. Friday at the intersection of County Road 19 and County Road 40 that killed teammate Derek Padilla, 17.

Police said that Padilla was driving a Volkswagen Passat eastbound on County Road 40. with Oberkiser in the passenger seat when he proceeded into the intersection at County Road 19 in front of a southbound Jeep Cherokee. The Cherokee hit Padilla’s sedan broadside.

Padilla was pronounced dead at the scene. Oberkiser was taken to a hospital in critical condition.

The crash happened some six miles from DeKalb High School, and word spread fast throughout the tight-knit community. The Barons football game was canceled that night, and students and friends began posting their condolences and expressing their sadness on social media sites using the hashtag #PrayForDeKalb.

A GoFundMe has been set up for Oberkiser. The campaign had exceeded $10,000 by midday Tuesday.

Funeral arraignments have not been set for Oberkiser. Padilla’s funeral has been set for Wednesday, Sept. 7.

In honor of the fallen students, the Auburn Music Festival set to be held Saturday at the DeKalb County Outdoor Theater has been reorganized as a benefit for the families of Padilla and Oberkiser. Free-will donations will be collected at the show, which will feature The Illegals, The Empty Pockets, The Kickback, Mason Dixon Line Band, Project ED and Adam Baker and The Heartache. The event begins at noon.