Community Mourns Orange County Teens Killed by Falling Tree in Yosemite

Two teens who died when a tree fell on their campground in Yosemite were identified today as high school students from Orange County.

Friends of Dragon Kim and Justin Lee, who attended Pioneer Middle School in Tustin together and were soon to be classmates at Orange County School of the Arts in Santa Ana, took to social media over the weekend to express their grief as word slowly spread about their deaths, the Orange County Register reported.

“It’s just a real tragedy,” Mark Eliot, communications director for the Tustin Unified School District, told City News Service. “Our hearts and thoughts go out to the families during this difficult time. It’s just a tremendous loss.”

Eliot said that in addition to attending Pioneer Middle School, the boys played water polo together.

He said grief counselors would be on hand when registration and classes begin at Pioneer Middle School and Beckman High School, where many of the boys’ classmates attend. Classes are scheduled to resume Sept. 1.

The Register reported that Dragon was already a student at Orange County School of the Arts, and Justin was scheduled to begin taking classes there at the beginning of the school year. Dragon’s family told the paper they were not ready to discuss the boy’s death, while Justin’s family could not be reached.

The boys died around 5 a.m. Friday when the tree fell on their tent at the Upper Pines Campground. A park spokesman said the teens were on a camping vacation with family.

City News Service; Photo: Wikimedia Commons