Alexis McKinney

The Story Alexis McKinney was counting the days until her 16th birthday. She had so much to look forward to: the birthday party that her parents were planning to celebrate with friends and family, starting her first job, applying for her driver’s license, and driving the Jeep that her father had purchased for her. Like...

Brandon Lucero

Twin siblings have an inexplicable bond that is special in many ways. From sharing birth to life milestones their unique relationship forms as they grow up. For Ryan and Brandon Lucero, identical 16-month-old twins, this bond was cut short when a drugged driver decided to get behind the wheel and kill Brandon in a crash...

Christopher Cooley

Remember 13 years of age? Everything seems possible, spread before you like a buffet, simply waiting for you to start making those “adult” decisions that will alter the rest of your life.  That’s the precipice Christopher Croley perched — not still a child, not yet a man — the day before his 14th birthday. He...

Longtime chapter leader retires

Lila Doud’s life was forever changed on December 8, 1983 when her daughter Lori was hit and injured by a drunk driver. The impact on her family and her daughter Lori’s quality of life prompted Lila to spend the next 34 years actively working to end drunk driving in Pennington County, South Dakota.  On Thursday,...

Virginia David

Seven boys and one girl. Nearly 15 grandchildren. Virginia David, a member of the Navajo tribe, made family her life. “The more kids you have, the more blessed you are in our culture,” said her sister, Priscilla Gibbs, who grew up with Virginia and their siblings on a Navajo Reservation. “So, she was very blessed....

Janakae Toinette Sargent

A poet with a love of animals, Janakae was in her third year at Texas Tech University where she was studying veterinarian medicine when she wasn’t playing in the marching band. She had a goal of playing every instrument before graduation.