A Michigan teenager who was killed in a horrific road crash after attempting to jump a steep hill told her friend to slow down seconds before she died last November. Nevaeh Downs, 18, of Grand Rapids, died in the collision with her best friend Ella Vece, who was 19 at the time, driving Downs’ car at the time of the crash. According to an incident report obtained by Target 8, the two had been trying to jump the steepest hill in Plainfield Township.
In January of this year, two months after the fatal crash, prosecutors charged Vece, 20, with reckless driving causing death, which is a felony. Earlier this month, she pleaded no contest to a moving violation causing death which is a one-year misdemeanor – she will be sentenced in June. According to an incident report obtained by the outlet, the two had been trying to jump the large hill at the crash scene. The deputy who viewed the footage wrote: “The video is filmed from the passenger seat with the girls yelling and laughing as they appear to go airborne over a smaller hill south of the crash scene. As they continue driving, Nevaeh appears to tell Ella to ‘slow down a little bit’ before coming to the large hill at the crash scene.”
Investigators who went through her cellphone found video Downs had recorded as they raced toward the hill. The deputy who watched the footage said it was difficult to see the oncoming vehicle’s exact position, writing it “did not appear to be directly head on”.
The vehicle hit a tree with such force that it “sheared off the entire passenger side”, most of the vehicle ended up 70 yards from the tree. Toxicology tests found no evidence that alcohol or drugs had played an role in the crash except excessive speed, according to the report.
An explosion is like the only way I can describe it. Right away, my husband was like, ‘What is that?’ I’m like, ‘a car accident’, I could just hear the metal.” After she rushed outside, she said she could “hear a girl screaming help” and after making her way to the site found the woman whose screams she had heard
To think they’re just young girls probably having fun. And the girl who survived, she was just so scared. She was screaming about her friend and ‘Where is she?’ It was just — it was heartbreaking.”
According to records seen by Target 8, Downs was the sixth person to die in five fatal crashes on the peak since 1966. There have also been at least four nonfatal hill jumping crashes since 2004, including one which ended in serious injury in 2022.
Or at least reduce it to a misdemeanor or something that’s not going to make this a double tragedy. Because we’ve already lost one young lady.” Sawyer is pushing the Kent County Road Commission to make the hill safer, saying it is too steep, narrow and too tempting for teens.
In an online obituary, Downs was recalled as being “thoughtful, strong and caring”. It said: “We can all agree that Nevaeh left us too soon. However, we can all agree that the impact she left on us will last a lifetime.”
