Friends across Ohio grieve teen's death

Created by Jefferson 16 years ago
By Christopher Magan Dayton Daily News JEFFERSON TWP., Montgomery County — Sadness spread like shock waves as news of Julian Hill's tragic death reached his friends and family here and in Cleveland. "It just don't feel right," said Nic Hunter, 17, a close friend of Hill's from the Cleveland suburb of Bedford where the Jefferson High School junior lived until recently. "We are shocked. Nobody knew how to react," Hunter said. "He was a nice kid. Funny as ever. If you were sad, he could make you laugh anytime." Hill, or Ju Ju, as friends and family called him in an online message board for condolences, was killed Friday when a black Mercedes-Benz driven by Dexter S. Moore II struck him as he got off a packed school bus in front of his Derby Road home. Moore, 37, who lived a quarter mile down the street, is being held in the Montgomery County Jail without bond and is expected to be charged with aggravated vehicular homicide. Sheriff's deputies believe Moore was driving at least 75 mph when he hit Hill. The speed limit on Derby is 45 mph. Students and faculty gathered at Jefferson High on Saturday to discuss how to handle grieving students when they return to classes Monday. Trevonnie Sorrells-Johnson, a 14-year-old freshman, came to the school Saturday for counseling. She was on Hill's bus and saw him killed. "He was in his yard. It was bad," she said. A crisis team of grief counselors and clergy will be available when high school students return to classes Monday, said Superintendent Norris Brown. The sign in front of the school building reads: "Remembering Julian Hill a ray of light shining bright." Hill's next-door neighbors, the Johnsons, spent Saturday morning picking crime-scene tape and pieces of Moore's Mercedes out of their front yard. Moore's car hit three trees and a utility pole after striking the boy. "I heard him get hit," said Samantha Johnson, 18. "I called 911 and hit the emergency button on our security system. The kids on the bus were freaking out." Samantha's brother, Andrew Johnson, 15, would have been on the same bus if he didn't have football practice. He had just met Hill two days before and described him as a likable kid with a good sense of humor. "He got along with everybody," the freshman said. 'We get a lot of speeders through here' Residents on Derby Road say Moore's black Mercedes isn't the first to speed down the narrow two-lane street. "We get a lot of speeders through here and a lot of drunks," said Tina Hurley, who lives between Moore's and Hill's homes. Sheriff's deputies don't believe alcohol or drugs contributed to the cause of the crash. Moore was given a sobriety test at the scene, according to witnesses and sheriff's deputies. Neighbors didn't know much about Moore, who was living with his mother Blanche Moore in a home recently rebuilt after it was destroyed by fire in 2003. Moore's uncle, former Waynesville mayor Charles Sanders, said the driver had lived in Washington, D.C. until recently and attended Howard University where his father is a chemistry professor. He worked for a telephone company in Washington, but was currently unemployed, Sanders said. Moore and his girlfriend, Corinna White, had discussed getting married, he said. White was a passenger in the Mercedes when it hit Hill and was recovering from her injuries. She was released from a local hospital on Saturday. Sanders said Moore's mother would not talk about the incident. "She is not presentable," Sanders said. "The lawyers said not to talk to anyone." Dayton Daily News Washington correspondent Jessica Wehrman contributed to this report.