Memorial concert honors teen killed in wreck

RALEIGH, N.C. — Hundreds turned out for a memorial concert on Saturday in honor of 18-year-old Kevin Jones, a senior at Southeast Raleigh Magnet High School who died in a May 5 wreck on Sunnybrook Road.

The concert was held at Poplar Springs Christian Church, at 6115 Old Stage Road, Saturday evening. Though Jones did not go to church there, his family and friends said he used to sing in a church choir. They wanted to honor him the way they thought he’d want.

“He was a young man with a future. He was about to venture out into the world,” said Gracie Jones, Kevin Jones’ mother.

Raleigh police said Jones, 18, was killed on May 5 when the driver of the car he was traveling in collided with another vehicle on Sunnybrook Road. Jones was pronounced dead at the scene.

The four other students in the car Jonathan Smith, 18, Louis Owen Walker Jr., 17, and Jabari Dickson, 19, as well as the driver of the car, Chadius Watson, 18, were injured in the wreck.

“We always hung out together during lunch…and played basketball,” Walker said of Jones. Walker suffered internal injuries but said Saturday he is doing much better.

The driver of the other vehicle, Susan Mann, 44, a nurse at the school, was also injured.

Walker and other friends said it's amazing to see how the crash has made the school community closer.

“It brought us to cherish the moments that we share together,” event organizer Brent Murphy said. “You can’t take for granted anything.”