A Michigan teenager who died in a horrific traffic accident after trying to jump a steep hill told her friend to slow down seconds before she died.
Nevaeh Downs, 18, of Grand Rapids, died in the collision with her best friend Ella Vece who was driving Downs’ car at the time of the accident.
According to an incident report obtained by Objective 8The two had been attempting to jump the steepest hill in Plainfield Township.
In January of this year, two months after the fatal crash, prosecutors charged Vece, 20, with reckless driving causing death, which is a felony.
Earlier this month, he pleaded no contest to a traffic violation resulting in death, which is a one-year misdemeanor; she will be sentenced in June.
According to an incident report obtained by Upon leaving, the two had been trying to jump the steepest hill in the city of Jericho.
Nevaeh Downs, 18, of Grand Rapids, died in the collision last year while her friend was behind the wheel of her car.
The event data recorder inside the Volkswagen Jetta showed the vehicle was traveling more than 100 mph when it went up the hill.
The report said Downs, in his final moments, had been documenting Vece’s attempt to catch air on the slope and sudden fall.
Investigators who searched his cell phone found a video Downs had recorded as they ran up the hill.
The officer who viewed the footage wrote: “The video is filmed from the passenger seat and the girls scream and laugh as they appear to fly through the air over a smaller hill south of the accident scene.
“As they continue driving, (Downs) appears to tell (Vece) to ‘slow down a little’ before reaching the large hill at the accident scene.
‘When the vehicle reaches the top of the hill, they encounter headlights that seem to scare the driver.
‘The car appears to turn to the right before it appears to go off the road. The video then ends.’
According to the outlet, Vece went on to tell police that he lost control of the vehicle after swerving to avoid the oncoming vehicle that was near the center line.
Toxicology tests found no evidence that alcohol or drugs played a role in the crash, except for speeding, the report said.
Earlier this month, Vece, seen here, pleaded no contest to a traffic violation resulting in death, which is a one-year misdemeanor; she will be sentenced in June.
In an online obituary, Downs was remembered as “thoughtful, strong and caring.”
The officer who viewed the footage said it was difficult to see the exact position of the approaching vehicle, writing that it “did not appear to be directly ahead.”
The vehicle struck a tree with such force that it “ripped off the entire passenger side,” with most of the vehicle ending up 70 yards from the tree.
According to the report, toxicology tests found no evidence that alcohol or drugs played a role in the crash, other than excessive speed.
The event data recorder inside the Volkswagen Jetta showed the vehicle was traveling more than 100 mph when it went up the hill.
In a 911 call, a woman can be heard telling officers, “I live right next to Jericho and I heard a big bang.” It sounds like a car has crashed into a tree. There are people screaming.
Niki Feldkamp, a nearby resident, told the outlet: “The passenger seat and the driver’s seat were in two different places on the road.
‘An explosion is the only way I can describe it. Immediately, my husband said, ‘What is that?’ “I felt like, ‘a car accident,’ I could only hear the metal.”
After running outside, he said he could “hear a girl screaming for help” and after heading to the scene he found the woman whose screams he had heard.
Feldkamp added: “She started asking, ‘Where is my friend?’ We thought, ‘What is she talking about?’
‘I thought there were several cars because there was a lot of debris on the road. So I walked a little further and my friend was under the other part of the car.’
According to an incident report obtained by the outlet, the two had been attempting to jump the steepest hill in the city of Jericho.
Vece, seen here in court earlier this month, will be sentenced later this year.
Downs was the sixth person to die in five fatal accidents at the summit since 1966.
Feldkamp said: ‘It was just a horrible, horrible scene. To think that they are just young girls who are probably having fun.
And the girl who survived was very scared. She was yelling about her friend and ‘Where is she?’ “It was just…it was heartbreaking.”
According to records seen by Target 8, Downs was the sixth person to die in five fatal accidents at the summit since 1966.
There have also been at least four non-fatal hill jumping accidents since 2004, including one that ended with serious injuries in 2022.
Vece’s attorney, Keary Sawyer, said: “I think the case should be dismissed. Or at least reduced to a misdemeanor or something that doesn’t make this a double tragedy. Because we’ve already lost a young woman.
Sawyer is pushing the Kent County Highway Commission to make the hill safer, saying it’s too steep, narrow and too inviting for teenagers.
In an online obituary, Downs was remembered as “thoughtful, strong and caring.”
It said: ‘We can all agree that Nevaeh left us too soon. However, we can all agree that the impact she left on us will last a lifetime.”
She had graduated early last year from Northview High School, where she was a dedicated swimmer who loved to dance, play soccer, lacrosse, and mentor younger children.
