(no subject)
i wasnt even really close to codi execpt during 6th grade
i guess this makes me grateful for everyday
DAYTONA BEACH -- Codi Frances Smith had just telephoned her father from the car she was riding in to let him know she was just a few blocks away from his Bunnell home.
The 16-year-old and two friends were on their way to visit Codi's dad and her older brother James on Friday afternoon.
But seconds after she hung up, the car carrying Codi went off the road and slammed into an oak tree. She was killed instantly, Florida Highway Patrol officials said.
The Seabreeze High School freshman was described Saturday afternoon as "one of the happiest people in the world" by a childhood friend. A throng of family and friends crowded into the small house Codi shared here on North Halifax Avenue with her mother Caroline Fahnestock and her Pomeranian terrier, Miss Cuddles.
"I was the last person to kiss her goodbye," said Codi's brother, James Smith, who saw her body at the crash scene. "She was my baby sister."
Several of the teen's friends huddled together outside the house trying to hold back tears as they reminisced about the young woman with the easy smile and the honey-colored hair.
"At least 75 kids must have come through this house today," James Smith said.
The teens talked about Codi's bubbly personality and how difficult it was to make her angry. They remembered how much she loved NASCAR, hunting with her father James "Sonny" Smith and her big brother and listening and dancing "to any kind of music that had a good beat."
"She grew up here; she lived here from the time she was 5," Fahnestock said, gazing at the little house brimming with visitors.
The conversation prompted 16-year-old Kayla Bright to lose her composure. She sobbed softly when she recalled how nice Codi had been to her when Bright moved here from Massachusetts three years ago.
"She was the first person who came up to me and became my friend," Bright said, wiping her eyes.
Erin Yaeger and Brittany Grunden, the 17-year-old girls Codi was riding with Friday, were both injured in the crash on Old Haw Creek Road in Bunnell, police said. Saturday evening Yaeger, the driver, was listed in serious but stable condition and Grunden was listed in stable condition. Both teens are at Halifax Medical Center.
Police said alcohol was not a factor in the accident; however troopers said they believed Yaeger was speeding. According to a report, Yaeger's car fishtailed moments after she turned onto Old Haw Creek, a dirt road, about 6:15 p.m.
The three girls had left Fahnestock's house just after 4:30 p.m. Friday, James Smith said.
"Police called my father's house from the scene," he said. "I went over there with my father and they uncovered Codi's body for us.
"I kissed her on the forehead and I told her 'Sister, I love you.' "
Funeral arrangements have not been made, Fahnestock said, but several of the teen's friends are planning a candlelight vigil.