Greensboro families can’t bury teens after crash due to incomplete autopsies

GREENSBORO, N.C. (WGHP) — Losing your loved one is one thing, but not being able to host a funeral one week after their passing is an experience Jeanean Chapman wishes she didn’t have to endure.​

On July 17, Chapman’s grandson, Kenyan Saxton, was one of three teens killed in a crash on Walker Avenue in Greensboro.

“We had to tell our family from other areas to hold off on making plans to come, and some have already made their flight arrangements, so they had to cancel,” Chapman said.

The family of 14-year-old Brandon Bowie, another victim in the crash, says they have also delayed Brandon’s funeral while they wait for the medical examiner to complete his autopsy.

In the meantime, ​both families are demanding updates on the investigation.

“We haven’t heard anything from police. The only thing we’ve heard from the medical examiner is that there is an overflow of bodies, and they haven’t even examined the boys yet,” Chapman said.

After the crash, Greensboro police issued a news release confirming that, on July 17 at around 2:15 a.m., a GPD officer spotted a vehicle going the wrong way on West Market Street at East Lake Drive and tried to pull the driver over.

The driver refused to stop and continued driving away at a high rate of speed, causing a chase to begin. The suspect vehicle crashed into one of the responding GPD patrol cars on the 3900 block of Walker Avenue.

The three people inside the vehicle, identified at the time as two 14-year-old boys and a 15-year-old boy, all died. One officer was in the patrol vehicle that was struck and was taken to a hospital with serious injuries.

We reached out to the NC State Highway Patrol for the status of the investigation, and they sent us the following statement:

The North Carolina State Highway Patrol Crash Reconstruction Unit were requested to assist with the investigation, which is common. Anytime there’s a serious crash involving an officer-involved pursuit, an outside agency comes in and investigates. There’s no timetable for how long that will take.

–NC State Highway Patrol

As progress is being made in the investigation, three families still can’t bury their children, and Chapman says Kenyan’s mother can’t have any closure until more details are released.

“It’s really ridiculous … I’m just going to be here as long as I can to help her through it,” Chapman said.

On Saturday, there will be a balloon release at Hairston Middle School to honor all three teens from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.

GoFundMe fundraisers have been set up for both families.

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