January 27, 2005
They were almost home, wearing dark clothing and walking across McKellips Road in Mesa on Wednesday night, when they were hit by a pickup truck.
John David Chase, 46, didn’t make it another step. He was pronounced dead when Mesa rescue crews arrived, Mesa police detective Tim Gaffney said.
His nephew, Kevin Lee Chase, 29, was taken by ambulance to Scottsdale Healthcare Osborn hospital with critical injuries, but was expected to survive, Gaffney said.
"Don’t tell me that, please!" a male family member screamed after police told him about the collision. "Tell me what you can do to help him."
The two Mesa men had just bought a bag of chips from a nearby gas station when, at 6:42 p.m., they jaywalked across McKellips, west of Center Street, to get home, Gaffney said.
The white Chevy Z71 pickup was westbound on McKellips and within the speed limit, police said. The driver, Calvin Burk, 21, of Mesa, will not be charged, Gaffney said. It was Mesa’s sixth fatal collision this year.
A man related to the victims, Danny Langoria, 42, guided John Chase’s 7-yearold niece, Celeste Ray, from the collision scene after they were told.
"Pray for the family, I guess," Langoria said. "Just pray for the family."
