Gabriella McLennan, 15, who died in horrific car crash with 4 others, was not allowed in vehicle with P-plate driver before
BUXTON, SYDNEY: The parents of Gabriella McLennan, 14, one of five teenagers who died in a horrific car crash on the night of September 6, 2022, when a Ute smashed into a tree, had never allowed the teen in a car with a P-plate driver before the accident, said a family member, who wished to stay anonymous.
Narrating the details to Daily Mail, the family member said that McLennan, who only had been in vehicles driven by close relatives, was permitted for the first time to go with a friend at 7 pm for a short drive to McDonald's in Tahmoor, only if she is back home by 8 pm. So, McLennan got in a Nissan Navara Ute with three others, the alleged driver Tyrell Edwards, 18, Summer Williams, 14, and her best friend Lily van de Putte, 15. Then they met Antonio Desisto, 15, and McLennan's former boyfriend, Tyrese Bechard, 16, at a fast-food chain. Once they got done with dinner, they made a move and got into Edwards' Ute. When McLennan didn't come home by the given time frame, the worried parents tried to contact her but couldn't get through. The horrorific crash had sent a shockwave through the close-knit town of Buxton and left the community devastated.
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The family member said that McLennan's death has left her parents "shattered." "Gabby was the apple of her mum's eye. She was just a happy go lucky young kid - very talented when it came to any sport that she tried. She wasn't the life of the party, but she was always the one on the motorbike, or the one doing front-flips on the trampoline," the relative recollected.
On Monday, September 8, Desisto's father Exaven Desisto remembered the night of the accident. He said, "It got late so I called him because I always called him when he was late home, and I said, 'Tony, where are you?' And he said, 'I'm at McDonald's getting some food, I'm with Tyrell.'" The father said, "Make sure [Tyrell] drives f***ing safe.'" To which the teen replied, "Yeah, dad, you know me, I love my life, we'll be safe."
The arrest of Tyrell Edwards
Following the crash, the P-plate driver, Edwards, who was the only survivor of the crash, was arrested by the officials and was charged with five counts of dangerous driving occasioning death and was refused bail in Picton Local Court on September 8. According to a DailyMail report, police alleged that Edwards used his phone to film a Snapchat video of himself while driving at 90km/hour, before crashing the car.