Graduation day bought a mixture of emotions for one Illinois high school, both mourning and celebration were felt after 18-year-old Aaron Dunigan, the school’s homecoming king and star quarterback was killed just days before in a car crash.
The teen was heading home after prom in the early hours of last Saturday morning with two of his classmates when the car cross a median and crashed into another car, tragically killing the football star and the 56-year-old driver of the other car.
The driver of the vehicle, David Peden, 18, has been charged with DUI and causing death and reckless homicide with a motor vehicle. A third teen suffered a broken jaw and other injuries and was also picture with Aaron’s mother on the day of graduation.
As students grieved Dunigan, they also paid tribute to him as his mother walked the stage in his place to accept his diploma for him.
A deeply emotional event in which what is usually a celebration by all is tainted by the loss of a friend and a son who had an aspiring future ahead of him.
