Some residents cannot pass the intersection of Clopper Road and Great Seneca Highway without thinking of the father of five killed there in a crash two weeks ago involving a 13-year-old driver.
“I commute this intersection every single day,” said Yuki, who lives just two blocks from the site of the fatal crash. He felt compelled to hold a candlelight vigil to remember 58-year-old William Vance Payne, II.
Despite rain Sunday, people gathered at night to join the candlelight vigil at the intersection in Germantown where Payne died.
“He was the kind of person that you want to be around,” said Angela, Payne’s youngest sister, who came from Alabama where their family grew up. “Because he was not only intelligent and kind, but he just made room for everybody in his life. He never wanted anyone to have suffering. If he could help them, he would, that was the kind of person he was.”
Payne, a mechanical engineer at NIST who lived in Virginia, died on the scene in Germantown Aug. 4 after his car was struck by a stolen car full of seven preteens and teenagers ranging from 12 to 15 years old, according to police.
“This accident happens because we as a society have failed,” Yuki said. As a father of two he added, “If you’ve got kids, be with your kids, raise your kids.”
More than $113,000 has been raised so far on GoFundMe to support Payne’s family, including his wife and children.
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