Aurora – There were birthday cakes and plenty of sweets and dozens of balloons, but what set this birthday party apart were the tears.
Also, the birthday boy wasn’t there.
Joshua Bankett-Land, one of two teenagers from Smoky Hill High School who died in a car crash Dec. 27, would have been 18 today.
On Sunday, the Mile High Center for the Homeless and Disenfranchised put on a barbecue to raise money to help the family defray its funeral expenses, and for the center, said the Rev. Ronald Meek, executive director.
The two youths who survived the accident were there, as well as the families of three of the boys who were in the car.
About 150 people showed up, and while there were lots of hugs and tears, the party wasn’t maudlin. The young men, including Michael Stillwagon, 16, who had been driving the vehicle, and Alton Coward, 17, who was a passenger, adjourned to a nearby court to play basketball.
Meanwhile, Bankett-Land’s sister, Shrevel Land, celebrated her 24th birthday Sunday.
Stillwagon, who had his driver’s license only about four months at the time of the accident, pleaded not guilty in Arapahoe County Court last week to five misdemeanors in the case.
Bankett-Land, Ian Wallace, 17, Stillwagon and Coward were in a 2002 Kia on South Parker Road near East Temple Drive when the car swerved into oncoming traffic, hitting two other cars. Stillwagon and Coward, who were in the front seat, suffered minor injuries. Bankett-Land and Wallace died.
Meek said all the families were invited to the gathering “because we want them to know there is no animosity between the families. They don’t want anything bad to happen to him (Stillwagon), but they don’t think he should be driving.”
Coward’s mother, Cheryl Carr, said that her son is still struggling with his feelings in the aftermath of the accident.
“I would say he’s adjusting to not having his best friend (Bankett-Land). They were like brothers.”
Staff writer Jim Kirksey can be reached at 303-820-1448 or jkirksey@denverpost.com.
