Candlelight Vigil Set For Crash Victim

Bethany Maes Morales only had a few more months of high school left before graduation. Instead of walking across the stage this spring, her friends will be gathering at Doherty High School to say goodbye Thursday night.

Maes Morales was killed in a wreck at the intersection of Fontaine Boulevard and Marksheffel Road at about 5 p.m. Tuesday. Maes Morales was driving a car that investigators said failed to stop at a stop sign and was hit by a utility truck that had the right of way.

A representative of the family said Maes Morales’ sister, Grace, 6, is in stable condition in pediatric intensive care. Two other children in the car at the time have been released from the hospital.

Friends will honor Maes Morales’ life with a candlelight vigil beginning about 6:30 p.m. on the west side of the school.

“Everybody’s going to be crying,” said Natasha Martin, a friend who’s known Maes Morales since middle school. “I’m going to be crying again. Things are going to be tough.”

Martin said Maes Morales always held her head high and dreamed big. She also commended Maes Morales for taking the time to get to know everybody at school.

“She had so much empathy for others,” said Martin. “She was very nice. She was very open with everybody. She was really a great person all around.”

Funeral services will be held this Saturday at the Rocky Mountain Calvary Chapel. The service begins at 11 a.m. Visitation will take place one hour prior to the services at the church.

A family representative says a memorial-medical assistance fund has been set up at any 1st Bank in Colorado Springs. To contribute, just ask for the Morales Memorial Fund.

Fundraisers are also being planned with Frankie’s Bar & Grille and at Frankie’s Too sometime in January. Dates for those fundraisers have not been set. The family is also looking for help finding a replacement vehicle to get Grace to and from the doctor’s office once she’s released from the hospital.