An online fundraiser for a teen driver killed in a serious, airborne collision course of a car wreck in Belchertown on last weekend has surpassed its goal.
Kaycee Coonen organized a GoFundMe campaign in honor of Miles Murray, asking for $2,500 to help the 19-year-old’s family with memorial costs. The campaign has since raised more than $5,800 in just two days, as of Sunday, Aug. 27.
“Miles was a son, big brother, and great friend to many who have grown up with him for the past 19 years,” Coonen wrote on the GoFundMe page. “He was a great role model, not only to his little brothers but also to his friends and teammates. He was very intelligent, driven to succeed, and overall a very genuine person that people always wanted to be around.”
Murray, of Henniker, New Hampshire, was ejected from his 2011 Nissan Altima around 8:45 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 20, after the car went airborne over a bed of mulch, then hit rock wall, a tree and a light post before smashing into the front end of a 2023 Jeep Wrangler parked at 79 N. Main St., police said.
The teenager’s body was found a distance from the car following the crash, State Police said, and a witness said Murray had landed in the bushes some ways from where his Nissan Altima finally came to a rest against the exterior wall of 79 N. Main St.
Due to the impact of the crash, the Nissan Altima’s engine was launched from the vehicle and smashed into another home at 73 N. Main St., landing inside 50-year-old Trevor Sims’ second-floor bathroom.
Sims’ mother-in-law, who has early onset dementia, had been in the room next door when the engine smashed through the wall.
He ran upstairs and gathered the woman away from the gaping hole in the side of their brick home. She was not injured, and the family was able to arrange for her to leave later in the night, Sims recalled.
Investigators are still working to determine the exact facts and circumstances of the crash, State Police said.
The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner has taken custody of Murray’s body and will perform a post-mortem examination, State Police said. People interested in donating to the GoFundMe can click here.
MassLive reporter Irene Rotondo contributed to the reporting for this story.
