‘He would light up the room’: Pine-Richland community remembers 14-year-old killed in crash

Two teenagers were killed in a tragic crash early Saturday morning.

Taylor Orlowski, 18, of Baden, and Jonathan Tourney, 14, of Gibsonia, died in a single-vehicle crash near Babcock Avenue in McCandless. Police say the driver was speeding when he lost control and hit a tree.

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The Pine-Richland community held a vigil Tuesday night in honor of Jonathan. Channel 11 spoke with one of his football teammates, his coach and a a family friend about the devastating loss.

“Jon was my day one, I knew him forever. I played tee ball with him,” said Will Woessner, a close friend and teammate of Jonathan.

“We are a really tight niche group family, he’s part of that family. [It’s] always difficult and hard and just looking to support our players at this time, support the family,” said Jon LeDonne, the Pine-Richland head football coach.

LeDonne said Jonathan brought a lot of energy and excitement to the team and was always happy and smiling.

“He would light up the room every time he walked in. He had a huge impact on our team,” Will said.

There were six people in the car when it crashed Saturday. Two others were hurt, another football player and Jonathan’s brother Jeffrey. Both are expected to be okay.

A family friend said this is the second recent tragedy for Jonathan’s family, his dad died from a brain tumor seven months ago.

“It’s been tough. These last few days have been tough,” said family friend Joe Merhaut.

Merhaut said Jonathan was like a second son. He started a GoFundMe page to help Jonathan’s mom and brother through this tough time, and so far it’s raised....

“It’s unreal how this community has come together to support Ellie and Jeffrey,” Merhaut said.

The crash remains under investigation.

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