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Crash kills Oldsmar mayor's granddaughter

Ashley Philips, 16, Mayor Jerry Beverland's only granddaughter, is struck by a car while skateboarding in Clearwater.

By ROBERT FARLEY
Published June 19, 2006

CLEARWATER - In three weeks, 16-year-old Ashley Philips was scheduled to go to Washington, D.C., to spend time as a congressional page.

"She was so excited,'' said her grandfather, Oldsmar Mayor Jerry Beverland. "I was going to fly up with her."

But Philips was trying out her new skateboard on a dark Clearwater street Saturday night when she was struck by a car. She died hours later.

Philips, who lived with her mother at Beverland's residence in Oldsmar, was with her best friend, Beverland said.

The girls were skateboarding about 9:30 p.m. on the east side of Lakeview Road near Eastfield Drive, close to Plumb Elementary School, when a 2000 Dodge Neon driven by Kelly Peckham came up behind them.

Peckham, 19, of Clearwater told police that she saw Philips but was unable to avoid hitting her.

"It was just one of those horrible circumstances,'' said Clearwater police spokesman Wayne Shelor.

Philips was treated at the scene by Clearwater paramedics and then flown to Bayfront Medical Center in St. Petersburg, where she died.

Shelor said there was no indication of alcohol use in the crash, and speeding did not appear to be a factor.

"The investigation is continuing," Shelor said, "but there is no indication of anything untoward or any culpability on the part of Ms. Peckham. Charges are not expected."

Neither Peckham nor Philips' friend was injured.

An honor student with a 4.25 grade point average at Tarpon Springs High School, Philips was ambitious. She planned to be a veterinarian, a lawyer, a photographer and a writer, Beverland said.

One day, he said, she hoped to work for National Geographic. She also wanted to write children's books.

"She had an incredible ability to write," Beverland said.

Philips was taller than 5 feet 8 with blond hair and blue eyes, but she "never went out with boys," Beverland said Sunday.

She was a tomboy who listened to country music and loved to go to the beach with friends.

She was ecstatic in April when Beverland surprised her with a Chevrolet pickup that he bought for her.

"I spoiled her rotten,'' Beverland said. "She was my only granddaughter."

He said Philips "was a brilliant girl with a brilliant future, snatched away in the blink of an eye."

As the family spent Sunday dealing with such realities as donating Philips' organs, Beverland came across a card that she made him for Father's Day.

"Nothing is fair in this life," he said.

Beverland said this blow came as he was still struggling to deal with the 1998 death of his son, Robyn "the Beaver"

Beverland, a 41-year-old folk artist who suffered from a rare genetic disorder.

Funeral arrangements for Philips had not been made Sunday.

She is survived by her mother, Hope Philips, her father, Vance Philips, a brother, Austin, 12, and her grandparents, Jerry and Wanda Beverland.

Times staff writer Tamara El-Khoury contributed to this report.

[Last modified June 19, 2006, 05:13:07]