After tragic wreck in Peoria, Dunlap teenager remembered as 'beautiful soul'

Like many people, Dunlap High School principal Katie Cazalet felt a pang of sadness when she heard that senior Nevaeh Mitchell had died in a car crash in North Peoria.

"That stuff isn't supposed to happen to young people," Cazalet said. "She was a young lady who had a lot of positive things in front of her, had a lot of exciting plans, and to see all of that come to a tragic end is just awful."

It's not the first time Cazalet has had to deal with students dying. Last year, Tessa Sutton, a 17-year-old Dunlap student, died from complications of a rare malignant chest wall tumor. Tessa's death came after two years of treatment for the illness. This death, happening while Nevaeh was returning home from her job at the AMC movie theatre near the Shoppes at Grand Prairie, was much more sudden.

More: Important questions remain unanswered in crash that killed Dunlap student in Peoria

Only one year, but a lot left behind

Nevaeh, 18, only spent one year at Dunlap, but there was enough time for students, staff and teachers to get to know her. They told Cazalet that Nevaeh was kind and responsible, someone who was relatively quiet, but a student who had a passion for things she loved, such as art and music.

"(She) was genuinely a kind individual," Cazalet said. "(They) always had very friendly interactions with her, was always the type of student that would tell them, 'Have a nice day,' at the end of the class and was truly a very talented artist."

Nevaeh's obituary, provided by Haskell Funeral and Cremation Services in her hometown of Princeville, describes her as being a "bright and diligent student," one who had done enough in her education to earn a scholarship to Loyola University Chicago. She also had a "warm and welcoming personality," best exemplified through her job at AMC. Nevaeh enjoyed singing, clay work and drawing.

Shauna Segler taught Nevaeh in her first semester at Dunlap, working with the student as a speech teacher. She said Nevaeh was nervous when it came to speaking in front of crowds, but she improved. Segler described Nevaeh as a "beautiful soul" that her fellow teachers couldn't help but rally around.

"She was really just a good person," Segler said. "I got to know her a little bit – she was a little nervous speaking to people, so we would meet a lot one-on-one on calming her nerves a little bit. She overcame all of those challenges and ended up doing an amazing job."

Cazalet said Nevaeh showed a great deal of maturity for someone her age and that students felt she was an easy person to get along with.

"People felt like she was very easy to talk to, just a nice young lady," Cazalet said. "Again, (she was) somebody who had a lot of plans, who was very responsible, mature (and) very excited about her future."

Dealing with loss

After Nevaeh's death, Cazalet quickly consulted her crisis team, allowing students to meet with counselors to deal with their grief and providing a therapy dog to help with the healing process. Segler praised the work that the counselors have done to calm the rattled nerves of a student body that just lost one of their peers.

"I think the support that Dunlap offers the students has helped a lot," Segler said. "The counselors have really rallied together and the administration and teachers, we're all pretty big family here. We've really pulled together to make sure that everyone has the support they needed."

Segler has been a teacher for the past 22 years, much of it spent in the Dunlap district. Over time, she said her students can become family members.

"And losing family is never easy," Segler said. "It leaves a hole in our hearts."

In the immediate aftermath of Nevaeh's death, Cazalet said that students were quick to sign cards and a banner that would be provided to her family as a sign of support. Cazalet also gave the family pieces of artwork that Nevaeh had worked on during the school year, with the family looking to provide people with reminders of the talent that had been lost all too soon.

"They had asked about getting pieces of her artwork," Cazalet said, "because that was something that was really important for them to have."

For the many things that draw people to being an educator, Cazalet said the specter of death that comes from losing someone so young, so soon is the worst thing that many of them have to deal with.

"It's tragic, it's heart-wrenching because these are things that aren't supposed to happen," Cazalet said.

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Funeral set for Monday

Nevaeh's funeral has been scheduled for Monday, May 13, at 11 a.m. at Haskell, with Pastor David Pyell of the Princeville, Laura & Monica United Methodist Church presiding. Those seeking to make memorial donations to the family can do so through the Nevaeh M. Mitchell Memorial Fund, designed to provide money for her siblings' future education.

A GoFundMe page had been set up after her death, with more than $21,000 raised as of Sunday to cover the cost of the funeral service and help with other expenses for her family.

It remains unclear if criminal charges will be filed against the driver of the vehicle that hit Nevaeh. The Peoria Police Department has said the case remains under investigation. A Freedom of Information Act request has been filed by the Journal Star with the city of Peoria for further information in this case.

Segler said that Nevaeh had the sort of personality that drew everyone towards her, a personality taken from this world far too soon.

"All of the teachers that I talked to, we cared about her," Segler said. "We cared about her so much because she was just a beautiful person. She had a lot of responsibility ‒ she worked a lot of hours. She managed to balance her work life, her school life (and) her personal life ‒ she balanced all of that in a way that I found extremely impressive."

This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Tragic death of student in Peoria 'leaves a hole in our hearts'