Friends, family bear weight of loss

Grant Aleo was 15 when he died Friday after a wreck. Those who knew him struggle to cope.

By JOHN FRANK, Times Staff Writer
Published December 11, 2007

Grant Aleo's sister, Jordan, left, with friends Christine Clemente and Heather Lawrence, watch Monday as Laramie Vantreeck pins a note to a memorial cross at California Street and Powell Road, where Grant was fatally injured.
	[Ron Thompson | Times]

ADVERTISEMENT [Special to the Times] Grant Aleo died Friday after the car he was in went through a red light and collided with another vehicle.

BROOKSVILLE - Family and friends of Grant Aleo gathered after school Monday to begin the healing process.

Aleo, 15, died at a Tampa hospital 1:20 a.m. Friday after suffering injuries in a car wreck earlier in the evening.

The Spring Hill teen was one of three young passengers in a car driven by 16-year-old Amanda Pappert, who was traveling south on California Street when she ran a red light at Powell Road, Florida Highway Patrol investigators said.

Also in the car were Megan Baily, 16, and Ronnie Parrott, 15. The driver of the other vehicle, Mary Labarr, 56, of Spring Hill, was treated at an area hospital. The FHP said none of the teens were wearing seat belts.

FHP spokesman Larry Coggins said Pappert was ticketed for running the light, but no other charges are likely. "It appears she was just not paying attention and ran the red light," he said. "It was just a terrible accident that caused the death of her friend."

Grant's mother, Lori, talked Monday as she was still trying to make sense of the whole incident. "Today, I'm feeling it," she said.

She said her son spent the time after school Thursday hanging out with friends at the Four Corners, the commercial intersection of Spring Hill Drive and Mariner Boulevard near their home. "It was a typical Spring Hill Four Corners day," she said.

His mother said he came home and she saw him before he left again.

But she still doesn't know why he and his friends were way across the county that night.

Since the wreck, his friends keep dropping by the house to comfort Lori Aleo as well as themselves. "It's comforting to me to talk to his friends," she said.

A bright spot in sadness of the last few days is the fact that Grant's older brother, Justin, came home. It's the first Christmas the 22-year-old Marine will spend with his family after stints in Iraq and Japan.

"We used to worry about him all the time when we watched the news," Lori Aleo said.

"You expect it when they are in the Marines but not when they are in high school."

A memorial service will be held 7 p.m. Thursday at Northcliffe Baptist Church in Spring Hill.

Grant Aleo will be buried at 11 a.m. Friday at the Florida National Cemetery in Bushnell because his father Scott served for 10 years in the Air Force, she said.

John Frank can be reached at jfrank@sptimes.com or 754-6114.

[Last modified December 10, 2007, 20:01:49]