Officer Forced to Make Impossible Decision as Father Frantically Called, Texted Son About Serious Car Wreck

A father learned that his son died in a car crash last week after a state trooper answered his child's phone when the concerned parent frantically texted and called to make sure his son hadn't been involved in the nearby crash.

"Where are you?" read the first message from Jeffrey Leonard to his 18-year-old son Johnathon.

"John answer me right now. There has been a very serious car wreck below the church... air care [is] here now... I want to know it isn't you," the father texted just three minutes later.

Image source: Screen grab via WFMY-TV

Image source: Screen grab via WFMY-TV

Leonard then tried calling his son. On the second attempt a state trooper answered and delivered the awful news that his son had been in the backseat and died instantly in the Monday crash, according to WFMY-TV.

"In reading the texts, I could tell the father knew something was wrong," Sgt. R.C. Abernathy of the North Carolina State Highway Patrol told People. "I picked up more or less to ease the father's pain of the unknowing."

[sharequote align="center"]"I picked up more or less to ease the father's pain of the unknowing."[/sharequote]

"It's always difficult to tell a loved one [someone] had passed away. We try our best to do it with sympathy and understanding," the trooper added.

Leonard's son was one of four passengers in the vehicle at the time of the accident.

Denzel Caige Campbell, 17, was in the front passenger seat and was hospitalized with critical injuries. His sister, 15-year-old Kayleigh Campbell, died at the scene. The driver, Jordan Deal, escaped the accident with only minor injuries and is now out of hospital.

Authorities said Deal was driving above the speed limit at the time of the accident and has been charged for the two deaths, WFMY reported.

(H/T: Mail Online)

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