COOPER TOWNSHIP, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – A 14-year-old boy from Kalamazoo was killed, after reportedly pushing his girlfriend out of the way before he was struck and killed by a vehicle in Kalamazoo County’s Cooper Township Friday morning.
The crash happened around 6:00 a.m. Friday when Tristan Billman and his 15-year-old girlfriend were walking in a southbound lane of North Riverview Drive near Van Buren Street, just north of Kalamazoo. Michigan State Police say a southbound vehicle traveling in the same lane hit the teen.
WOOD-TV reports Billman’s family says he pushed his girlfriend out of the way just before he was struck.
The uninjured driver of the vehicle was a 51-year-old Allegan man.
Tristan Billman was a freshman at Comstock High School. “(O)ur students and staff who knew Tristan are devastated,” Comstock Public Schools Superintendent Jeffrey Thoenes wrote in a Saturday letter to district families.
The superintendent said the district would implement a five-day response plan to offer emotional support and grief counseling starting January 8 when students return from winter break.
A GoFundMe account has been started to help the family cover funeral costs.
