Community mourns loss of Crest High School student in car crash

SHELBY, N.C. — A community in Cleveland County is heartbroken over the loss of a Crest High School student who died in a crash late Thursday.

The North Carolina State Highway Patrol told Channel 9 that Parker Earl was driving towards Shelby on Highway 150 when he went off the side of the road, overcorrected, and then flipped.

It happened about four hours after what one of Earl’s close friends said was a really good day at school.

“He always brought joy anywhere he was,” Brandon Surratt told Channel 9’s Ken Lemon on Friday. “You couldn’t be around him and not have a good time.”

Surratt and Earl were friends since middle school, and they both played on the Crest High School football team that just won a state championship. Surratt said they bonded during practice.

“While the offense was going over their stuff, we’d always talk to each other, just talk about school and how everything was that day,” Surratt said.

He said he can’t forget their last day of school, adding that they laughed most of the day.

“We basically talked all day, and he’s telling me about baseball and how he wanted his season to go,” Surratt told Lemon.

Then Thursday night, Surratt got a phone call.

“My other friend told me, and I really just couldn’t believe it. Just really devastating,” Surratt said.

That feeling was shared by many on campus, even on a day with no classes. The parking lot in front of the auditorium was packed, as students were invited to talk about their schoolmate and meet with grief counselors.

Flowers were delivered to the school, and people posted condolences all over social media for the school and Parker Earl’s family.

“I feel like everybody will miss him, because he always brought us happiness and joy,” Surratt said.

Earl’s father was Surratt’s teacher, and the school’s baseball coach. Surratt knows Parker’s older brother, who is also a student and baseball player.

The family was a fixture on campus, and it’s clear Parker was loved.

There’s no word right now on funeral plans.

School responds

Counselors will be available at Crest High School in Shelby.

“Our thoughts and deepest sympathies are with their family, friends, classmates, and all who knew and loved them,” Crest High School officials said in a statement. “This loss is felt across our entire school community, and we know many are grieving in different ways.”

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