Hundreds gather at Wausau vigil for crash victims

This originally was posted on Aug. 11, 2014.

WAUSAU -- People lit candles, cried and hugged each other as hundreds gathered in The 400 Block Monday evening at the candlelight vigil for the victims of a Friday crash that left two girls dead.

The event, organized by Jordyn Schalow, 15, of Wausau and his family, was part memorial for the two 12-year-old girls who died in the single-vehicle rollover on Highway 52: Reighlee Stevenson of Oshkosh, who died at the scene, and Deserae Landowski of Wausau who died Saturday at Ministry Saint Joseph's Hospital in Marshfield.

But it also was a show of support for the other eight young people in the SUV and their families.

"This means a lot. We all kind of needed this," Shaquille Holzem, 17, of Wausau, told the crowd. Holzem was one of the group of teens and preteens who packed into the SUV and headed to the Eau Claire Dells Friday. He escaped with a relatively minor injury; his right arm was in a sling Monday night. "Hopefully this is a wake up call for us all."

That was a theme repeated over and over during the vigil — that something positive must come of the tragedy.

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Latisha DeBroux, 28, of Wausau, Deserae's aunt, said the event showed "how we can all come together to support each other. We would like to continue to see this support through this process."

Like Shaquille, DeBroux said she hoped the children and parents in the crowd would take the tragedy to heart, and use it to be careful when driving. "We don't want anyone to go through this," DeBroux said.

Deserae's family was not casting blame, she said. "It's tragic. For everyone involved. The family is hoping together we can all pull through."

Michael Taylor, 37, of Wausau, is the father of DeVonte Taylor-Hajdu, who is the only victim of the crash remaining in the hospital. DeVonte is in critical condition at Saint Joseph's Hospital, but will be all right, Taylor said.

The event was an important showing of community, Taylor said. "It shows that people do care," he said. "My son would have loved to seen this."

Jordyn said he wanted to arrange the vigil because he was friends with all the youth in the vehicle. "None of us will ever forget," he said. "I wanted to help by showing the victims and their families our love and support."

Friends of Deserae and Reighlee spoke about the girls' smiles, energy and friendliness.

"I just went to the fair (with Deserae)," said one girl. "She was such a good friend. She bought me cheese curds. But she came back with only one in the tray."

Keith Uhlig can be reached at 715-845-0651. Find him on Twitter as @UhligK.