‘Full of light and love.’ Hundreds gather to remember teen killed in golf cart crash
A candlelight vigil was held Monday night for the teenager killed in a tragic golf cart crash in Avila Beach just days before Christmas.
Friends and family of Jared Aichouri, 13, of Templeton gathered Monday night at Templeton Park to remember a boy many described as “never having a bad day.”
“I want you to know that he was full of light and love,” his mother, Teresa Hamers, told the amassed crowd during the vigil.
“I just want you to know this is just an accident — we can’t explain it,” she said. “But one thing you can take away from tonight is Jared’s love and his light.”
Community in shock after tragic death
According to the CHP, two teenage boys were riding in a golf cart on Silver Oak Lane on Sunday afternoon when the cart overturned, pinning the 13-year-old passenger underneath.
He died from his injuries, while the 16-year-old driver of the golf cart was sent to the hospital with minor injuries, the CHP said.
The agency has not confirmed Jared was the person killed in the crash, but word of the incident spread quickly throughout the Templeton community on Monday, including a GoFundMe campaign created Monday morning.
The GoFundMe page has raised $10,915 of its $20,000 goal as of 8 p.m. Monday.
Melissa Noone, a family friend who created the fundraiser for Jared’s family, said she did so to help them pay for unexpected costs as well as travel expenses for family who live out of town.
Noone described the Templeton community as “tight knit” and said that it is in shock over the loss.
“I think everyone just feels that it could have happened to any of us, it could have been any of our kids, so we just want to show them that we are with them all,” she said.
A meal train was also set up Monday morning to provide food to Jared’s family for several weeks.
Requests for comment from the family were not returned Monday.
Candlelight vigil honors Jared
At the vigil held at Templeton Park on Monday night, roughly 200 people gathered to share memories of Jared and to show support for his family.
Several of Jared’s classmates spoke, remembering him as an energetic kid who they looked forward to going to high school or playing sports with.
Hamers described her “baby boy” as a goofball who “loved volleyball with all his heart.”
“He was a good friend; he was loyal,” she said. “He was smart. He was funny.”
At the end of the night, attendees were invited to take a Christmas ornament from a tree in the center of the park to remember Jared by.
“When you are feeling blue just remember his spirit and how he would always dance or floss or smile or dance like a goofball or crack a joke,” Hamers said through sniffs and pauses as her voice broke. “So when times are blue in your life, just remember him, because that’s the gift he gave everybody — including me.”
Tribune photographer David Middlecamp contributed to this article.
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