MISHAWAKA, Ind. (AP) - Relatives of two northern Indiana teenagers killed in a hit-and-run crash last week as police chased another vehicle remembered the young couple during a candlelight vigil at the crash scene.
Clayton McClish, 19, and his 18-year-old fiancé, Elizabeth Johnson, died Dec. 2 when McClish’s car was struck by a vehicle fleeing police in Mishawaka, just east of South Bend. The driver of that vehicle fled the scene on foot after the crash with another male. Both remain at large.
Johnson’s father, Shane Neher, called for justice during Wednesday night’s vigil attended by several other relatives and friends of the couple.
“This is tragedy. These two kids are dead for no reason,” he said.
McClish’s cousin, Tabitha Stackman, said McClish and Johnson’s lives “were taken for no reason” as McClish was simply driving home.
The St. Joseph County Fatal Crash Team said the police pursuit began after officers responding to reports of a house’s door being kicked in began chasing a male on foot. That suspect then got into the back of a silver Pontiac Grand Prix and it drove away, the South Bend Tribune reported.
Officers pursued the Pontiac for “less than a minute” before it struck McClish’s car, police said.
After the collision, the driver and another male fled on foot, while a female passenger remained at the scene and cooperated with police.
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