‘He touched the hearts of everybody around him.’ Beaufort teen killed in SUV crash mourned

The Beaufort teenager who died in an SUV crash in Burton on Tuesday was remembered by school officials Wednesday as someone who seemed to embody the spirit of his high school.

Kevin Morazan danced and performed flips and otherwise energized the crowd as a mascot at Whale Branch Early College High School football games, Principal Mona Lise Dickson said Wednesday. The 17-year-old sophomore was “the spirit guy,” she said.

Morazan died when the SUV he was driving crashed in the Grays Hill area on Tuesday evening, authorities said. On Wednesday morning, classmates in his first-period English class left sticky notes on his desk in remembrance.

“A lot of kids are very upset about this loss,” Dickson said. “It really hit the Warrior nation — our family — really hard.”

In addition to serving as the Warriors mascot, Morazan was involved in the JROTC program and played soccer as a freshman, Beaufort County School District spokesman Jim Foster said. A crisis team including school counselors, psychologists and social workers was at the school Wednesday morning, he said.

Xavier Pierce, a Whale Branch high school student, posted a video tribute to Morazan in a public Facebook post late Tuesday night. The video shows Morazan in his JROTC uniform, performing a back flip, banging a drum in the school band room and posing with friends.

“To the family of Kevin Morazan I never got to meet you all, but know that your son, brother, nephew, cousin was a good person and touched the hearts of everybody around him,” Pierce posted.

Another passenger was critically injured in the crash Tuesday, authorities said. Morazan was identified as the driver who died by the Beaufort County Coroner’s Office.

Morazan and a front-seat passenger were ejected when a 2004 Ford Expedition traveling east on Bruce K. Smalls Drive went off the right side of the road and overturned several times about 5:05 p.m., said Lance Cpl. David Jones of the South Carolina Highway Patrol.

Jones said Morazan was pronounced dead at the scene, and a passenger was transported by helicopter to Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston.

Neither the Morazan nor the injured passenger had been wearing a seat belt, Jones said.

The cause of the crash is still being investigated, Highway Patrol Lance Cpl. Matt Southern said. There is no indication from the patrolman’s report that alcohol or drugs were a factor, he said.

Two other passengers, who had been wearing seat belts, initially left the scene but later returned, according to a news release from the Burton Fire District, which responded to the scene with Beaufort County EMS personnel. One of those passengers was transported to the hospital with minor injuries, the news release said.

The other three passengers were males ages 21, 17 and 14, according to the Burton Fire District and Highway Patrol. Bruce K. Smalls Drive was closed for more than three hours while emergency crews worked.

An autopsy was scheduled for 11 a.m. Wednesday, Deputy Coroner Debbie Youmans said.

This story was originally published September 26, 2018 at 7:12 AM.