Obituary of Raven Nicole Kennedy ~ 2010

Contributed by Jeanette Corcoran





Raven Nicole Kennedy 
 
CHINQUAPIN - Raven Nicole Kennedy, 16, of Chinquapin, died Jan. 24, 2010. 
A memorial service will be held at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 27 followed by visitation 
at East Duplin High School, Fine Arts Building in Beulaville. 

Survivors include her parents, Padrick and Nancy Kennedy of Chinquapin. 

Condolences may be sent to the family at communityfuneralhomebeulaville.com 

Published in Jacksonville Daily News from January 26 to January 29, 2010

Teen dies in weekend four-wheel ATV wreck

January 25, 2010 5:44 PM
LINDELL KAY 
The Chinquapin community is mourning the loss of a teenage girl who died in a four-
wheeler wreck Sunday afternoon.

Raven Kennedy, 16, was a “beautiful young girl with a big beautiful smile,” said Greg 
Jenkins, the athletic director for East Duplin High School where Kennedy was a 
student athlete.

East Duplin sporting events scheduled for the first of the week have been postponed 
to give friends a chance to attend services, Jenkins said.

Kennedy played basketball, soccer and tennis.

“She was one of our few three-sport athletes,” Jenkins said.

Kennedy died Sunday afternoon after crashing a four-wheeler on a dirt road on private 
property about five and a half miles south of Beulaville. She was not wearing a helmet, 
authorities said.

Kennedy was driving the ATV with 20-year-old Michael Pickett as a passenger when 
she came to the end of the road and tried to turn onto another dirt road, said N.C. 
State Highway Patrol Sgt. Will Thurston.

“She tried to make a left turn at an excessive speed and turned the four-wheeler over,” 
Thurston said.

Pickett was taken to Duplin General Hospital, treated and released.

Kennedy’s father, Patrick Kennedy, said he could not believe his only daughter was 
gone.

“She meant everything to us,” he said, sobbing. “I will miss her forever. I am just 
grateful God let me have her for a little while.”

Raven Kennedy meant a lot to many people, especially at East Duplin, Jenkins said.

“She is going to be missed academically, she is going to be missed athletically and 
she is going to be missed personally,” he said.

School staff made crisis counseling available Monday, and many students who knew 
Kennedy didn’t attend school at all, school administration officials said.

Within hours of her death, an account was set up by friends on Facebook to allow people 
to post their thoughts and memories.

Jenkins said he has been at East Duplin for 10 years and every year has lost a student 
to tragedy.

“It never gets easier,” he said. “You never get used to the sense of loss.”

Services are set for 7 p.m. Wednesday at the East Duplin High School Fine Arts building.

 

Contact Lindell Kay at 910-219-8456. Read his blog at http://onslowcrime.encblogs.com.

   
Authorities emphasize importance of helmets 

January 27, 2010 9:00 AM
LINDELL KAY 
Authorities are reiterating the importance of helmets in the wake of the death of a Duplin
County teenager after an ATV crash this weekend.

Raven Kennedy, 16, Chinquapin, died Sunday afternoon after crashing a four-wheeler on a 
dirt road on private property about five and a half miles south of Beulaville. She was not 
wearing a helmet, authorities said.

In March, 20-year-old Kyle Anthony Shea died of skull fractures after a four-wheeler wreck 
near William Gurganis Road. Authorities said he was not wearing a helmet.

There were two of the 100 ATV-related deaths in North Carolina from 2003 to 2008. More 
than 60 percent of those killed were not wearing helmets, according to a published report 
by the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Onslow County Medical Examiner Dr. John Almedia said he has seen countless cases 
where a helmet could have prevented death.

“I don’t get to see the survivors,” he said, adding that it is almost always people without 
helmets who die in ATV wrecks. He has seen numerous head injuries that could have 
been averted with the use of a helmet.

“One case that got my attention from when I was in med school was a young man who 
got an ATV for Christmas and was driving it down his driveway for the first time and rolled 
it,” he said. “He was not wearing a helmet, suffered a head injury and was a vegetable the 
rest of his life.”

Almedia said one head injury that is often overlooked until it is too late is the chronic 
brain damage that can be caused by children hitting a soccer ball with their heads.

“I would like to see a light-weight helmet of some kind for soccer players,” he said. “A 
lot of research is being done on that right now. The damage done to the brain is far 
more serious than most people think.”

N.C. State Highway Patrol Sgt. R.A. Moreau said he would like to add bicycle helmets 
to the list.

“Children can receive serious head injuries falling off a bike,” he said, adding that the law 
is clear in North Carolina: Children younger than 16 must wear a helmet while riding a bike.

As far as four-wheelers go, Moreau said he has seen too many people seriously injured 
in a roll over because they were not wearing a helmet.

“When we see anyone riding an ATV without a helmet, we stop them and explain the 
dangers,” he said.

Nearly everyone — regardless of age — is required to wear a helmet when riding an 
ATV in North Carolina.

“No person shall operate an all-terrain vehicle unless the person wears eye protection 
and a safety helmet meeting United State Department of Transportation standards for 
motorcycle helmets,” according to state law.

The only exemption is for people using ATVs to farm, hunt or trap.

Contact Lindell Kay at 910-219-8456. Read his blog at http://onslowcrime.encblogs.com.



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