Teammates remember 15-year-old boy fatally hit by vehicle

ST. LOUIS PARK, Minn. (KMSP) - At the corner at Texas Avenue and Highway 7, the Creekview Knights huddled together to remember one of their own.

"I'm traumatized by it,” said Derrick Lynn, a teammate. “I can't believe this happened, especially to him."

Daunte Moore played football, basketball and baseball for the Creekview Recreation Center, and his friends are having a tough time knowing he won't be on the sidelines anymore.

"Daunte was very close to us,” said David Trueblood, a coach. “I've been coaching him since he was 8 or 9 years old. This tragedy struck us pretty hard this morning."

The 15-year-old ninth grader at Hopkins West Junior High School was struck and killed while crossing Highway 7 on foot Thursday evening.

"Shock, complete shock,” said Ryan Kelley, who witnessed the crash. “It was jaw-dropping to see someone get hit like that."

Kelley says Moore was looking down at his phone as he walked into the road a few feet from the intersection, where he was hit by one car and thrown into another car in the opposite lane of traffic. 

"Just to find out he's a normal high school kid distracted by his phone and headphones, couldn't hear anyone honking at him if they did,” said Kelley. “It’s tragic."

Moore's coaches say he was an honor roll student who was an inspiration to everyone he met.

"I ain't never cried so many times in a day,” said M'Angelo Harris, a coach. "I'm struggling right now."

Now sadly, the Creekview Knights’ guiding light has been extinguished for good.

"So we just didn't lose Daunte,” said Trueblood. “We lost a beacon. Lost a son. Lost a loved one. A positive role model lost a lot with Daunte not being here anymore."

The State Patrol is reconstructing the accident and says the two drivers are cooperating with their investigation.

The Creekview Knights say the basketball team will put patches on their uniforms to honor Moore this weekend.