15-year-old Anderson High School student killed in hit-and-run, district says
ANDERSON TOWNSHIP, Ohio (WXIX) - A 15-year-old Anderson Township boy is dead in a hit-and-run incident on Clough Pike overnight, according to the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office.
The Good Samaritan whose son called 911 and who waited at the scene to help arriving first responders also died from a heart attack suffered afterward.
It happened just before 1 a.m. near Eight Mile Road, sheriff’s officials say.
The teen was taken by an ambulance to Mercy Hospital Anderson with life-threatening injuries, where he was pronounced dead.
The Hamilton County Coroner’s Office identified the pedestrian as 15-year-old Eli Jones.
He lives in the 8400 block of Clough Pike, right where he was hit, a coroner’s report shows.
Lisa Pruitt lives along Clough Pike. She says the teen would often walk to the store, sometimes cutting through her yard for a shortcut.
“I’m heartbroken over it,” Pruitt said. “They’re neighbors, so I’m devastated. I’ve walked down to the corner often myself, and I was terrified every time I walked there. I’m not going to do it anymore.”
As she fought back tears, Pruitt said Jones was a very respectful young man.
Grief counselors will be on hand at Anderson High School, where Jones was a sophomore, to help students and staff cope with the tragic loss, Forest Hils School District Superintendent Larry Hook wrote in a message to the community.
“It is with deep sadness that I inform you of the death of one of our students, Eli Jones, a 10th grader attending Anderson High School. Eli was hit and killed by a driver on Clough Pike around 1 a.m., according to the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office,” the superintendent’s message states.
“This tragedy is devastating to our Anderson High School community and for the entire district. It will surely touch many students and staff members, and may leave parents searching for ways to communicate with their children and ways to help them cope with their grief.”
The vehicle that hit Jones was last seen turning into a driveway and fleeing the scene east on Cough Pike toward Clermont County, sheriff’s officials say.
Deputies are searching for a Honda Civic. They said they think that is the make and model of the fleeing vehicle due to the car parts they found at the scene.
The Honda also is missing the right fender well, according to the sheriff’s office.
Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call the sheriff’s Traffic Safety Unit at 513-825-1500.
MORE | Heart attack claims life of man who found boy, 15, on road in Anderson
Doug Stansell, 56, of Union Township, was driving with his two grown sons to pick up their sisters from work at Taco Bell nearby when one of his sons, Jon Stansell, tells FOX19 NOW they spotted something in the road on Clough Pike.
He said his dad “thought it was a garbage can because of the way (the teen) was lying” in the street, Jon Stansell tells FOX19 NOW. “It was dark. I said ‘Dad, it’s a body.’”
Doug Stansell turned around to go back and check on the teen, Jon Stansell says. Jon called 911.
“My dad is one of the most kindest, nicest, big-hearted men you ever could meet. You couldn’t ask for a better father or a better best friend,” he says.
As their vehicle approached, Jon Stansell says they noticed the person was unresponsive and he relayed that to the 911 dispatcher.
They waited until deputies and an ambulance arrived, he says, and they spoke with them.
They left about 45 minutes later to get their sisters, Jon Stansell says.
His dad seemed fine driving the rest of the drive to Taco Bell some six minutes away on Ohio 125, he says, but then he became very quiet.
They were sitting in their Jeep Cherokee in the parking lot, waiting for his sisters, 29 and 26, to come out, Jon Stansell says, when his father collapsed in the front seat.
“He was talking to me and then he looked quiet and fainted back and rolled his head toward me,” Jon Stansell, 21, tells FOX19 NOW. “He couldn’t talk or breathe.”
He said his other brother, 19, called 911, this time for their father.
“If you want the honest truth, he was fine,” Jon Stansell tells FOX19 NOW. “He talked to the officers, he wrote a statement, he drove all the way down to Taco Bell. He acted normal. I guess once he parked he let everything sink in. I don’t know if it was too much for him to handle.”
Doug Stansell’s family says he suffered a heart attack from the stress and trauma of seeing the dead teen.
EMS transported him to Mercy Anderson Hospital, where he died Monday afternoon, according to family members.
Chrissy Stansell, Doug’s wife, offered prayers for the family of Eli Jones, the 15-year-old who died.
“We just want to send condolences to the family,” she said Monday morning.
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