Teen killed in Barrington Hills crash ‘brought immense joy to everyone he met,’ sister says
The sister of a rising senior at Barrington High School who was killed in a weekend car crash remembered her brother as a loving, protective and “wonderfully creative kid.”
Colin Newnam, 17, died in an early Saturday morning rollover crash in Barrington Hills that injured two others. But his eldest sister, Marche Salley, told the Tribune she wants the focus to be on her brother’s life rather than his death.
“He brought immense joy to everyone he met and protected those he loved whenever called upon,” she said in a brief interview Monday. “I am forever grateful I had the privilege to call him my little brother.”
According to the Barrington Hills Police Department, the crash occurred around 2:20 a.m. near Hills and Dales and Brinker roads. A Mercedes SUV traveling at high speed left the road, toppling trees and rolling over. One person was ejected from the car, and two others, whose identities have not been released, were cut free from the vehicle.
Police said Monday they are still investigating and that there are no further updates.
Craig Winkelman, superintendent of Barrington Community Unit School District 220, shared in a message to the school community that the district was mourning this “tremendous loss.” Counselors and social workers would be available at the high school, he said.
“I extend our deepest condolences to Colin’s family, friends, classmates, teachers, and everyone whose life was touched by him,” Winkelman said. “Our thoughts are with them during this unimaginable time.”
Salley also said her brother “really was a good kid and should be remembered as such.”
A homeowner who lives near the crash site told the Tribune Saturday that it’s not uncommon to see single-car crashes outside his home, because the two-way road is narrow and offers no shoulder. Zach Swiatek’s teenage daughter woke him just after 2:20 a.m., as the car crashed outside her window, a few hundred feet from the family’s home of 10 years.
Swiatek said there has been at least one crash per year that he has lived at his current home. But Saturday’s fatal crash was particularly tragic.
“This was a horrible accident, and my heart goes out to the people involved and their families,” Swiatek said. “Huge loss today.”
Another car crash over the weekend led to the deaths of four Northwest suburban teens in Bedford Park.
The Cook County medical examiner’s office identified the teens Monday as Cristofer Lopez Montan, 19, of Woodstock; Yuarem Garcia-Pena, 18, of Woodstock; Yaritza Martinez Villeda, 17, of Crystal Lake; and Vanessa Morales, 14, of Palatine.
Chicago police said they attempted to stop the vehicle around 2:15 a.m. Sunday after a victim reported that someone in the car had pointed a gun at them. The driver initially fled from Chicago police during an attempted traffic stop then later from Illinois State Police.
The vehicle fled fast, drove off the road and hit a train box car in the 6900 block of South Cicero Avenue, police said.
Martinez Villeda had graduated from Crystal Lake Central High School, said Shannon Podzimek, a spokeswoman for Crystal Lake Community High School District 155. “Our thoughts are with her family during this difficult time,” Podzimek said.