Week of Shock, Mourning at El Cerrito High

Two young lives snuffed out. Each had been an El Cerrito High student and each died in the past week after being hit by a heavy metal vehicle on wheels – one by a train, the other by a car.

"This past week has been an emotionally trying week for the El Cerrito High School community," Principal David Luongo said in a message on the school email list late Thurday. "The passing of one current student and one former student hangs heavy on us all."

The first shock came Sunday. Jeremy Crowder, a 17-year-old senior who was on the football team and honor roll, was in Richmond about 3 a.m., authorities said. It's unknown why he was on the track.

The second came the next day, Monday. Tyler De Martini, 18, who attended El Cerrito High for three years – as a freshman, sophomore and junior – was skateboarding down Marin Avenue in Berkeley about 7 p.m. when he was making a turn. Not wearing a helmet, he suffered severe head injuries and died at Highland Hospital Wednesday.

The grief of students and friends, as well as family and strangers, has spilled out onto Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and the streets.

Friends posted a moving video tribute to Crowder the day after his death. About 60-80 people attended for De Martini. A memorial gathering for Crowder was held Wednesday at the school, and another one for De Martini is scheduled for today, Friday.

"The atmosphere at school has been incredibly sad because two fellow Gauchos died within three days of each other," said junior Adrianne Ramsey. "That's crazy! People have been crying, looking sadder. It's depressing to go on Twitter and Facebook because the news feeds are blasted with RIPs and notes of rememberance."

"You can see people try to put a smile on their face, but it's not real,"  sophomore Quintin Anderson said.

Many students shared memories of their lost classmates.

"He was always cheerful," senior Kavier Vaughn said of Crowder.

"Everybody knows him," added junior Jessie Wilson.

"He was like a happy kid, like a jokester," Anderson said, "but at the same time, he was in a brutal part of Richmond." Crowder lived in Richmond.

Asked if anyone knows how Crowder ended up on the Union Pacific tracks early Sunday morning, Anderson said, "There's a lot of different stories, but noboby knows the real story."

Junior Joseph Stallworth said, "I don't think he'd just sit in front of a train and let it hit him."

Though De Martini was not at El Cerrito High this year, his loss too deeply affected those who knew him.

Known as a devoted skateboarder, De Martini had family roots in El Cerrito. His late grandfather, Joe De Martini, and then his father, Kenny De Martini, operated the Mel-O-Dee lounge, a long-established El Cerrito institution in El Cerrito Plaza. (Kenny De Martini sold the business 2009.)

Bartender Sandra Skerl Jones, who has worked at the Mel-O-Dee for 14-1/2 years, remembers Tyler running through the place as a child.

"He was a wonderful kid," she said. "He was a sweetheart, and he'll be terribly missed."

"Tyler was so friendly to me," Ramsey said. "He always said hi to me, gave me a hug, and was smiling. I had P.E. with him my sophomore year and he was always telling jokes and playing basketball."

"You could call that boy up at 3 in the morning," De Martini's girlfriend, Hannah Le, told Albany Patch at the vigil on Marin Avenue where he was hit. "Even if it was something small, like a scary dream, you could call him and he'd pick up."

Many friends expressed their feelings on Twitter:

"Another Loved 1 Gone...," tweeted stynaswagg. "You will forever be in my heart n i will miss you more than u can imagine... May u Rest in Paradise Jeremy Crowder."

"Man today has been a rough day," tweeted taywestluvsu about De Martini. I will miss greatly @tylerfuknd known this guy since Kinder.. I was blessed to know him. Rest in paradise."

Correction: And a deep apology for publishing a photo of someone else as Jeremy Crowder on the initial version of this article. (The photographer accidentally sent us the wrong photo.) We recognize the distress it can cause to his family, friends, the high school community and the individual whose photo was published. It has been corrected.