EDITOR’S NOTE — Mental health support is available to SIU students through Counseling and Psychological Services at 618-453-5371. An after-hours support line is available at 1-833-434-1217.

Registered student organization (RSO) Share the Bread held a vigil on Thursday, Oct. 22 in Faner Plaza to honor the life of SIU freshman Lyric Irby. Irby, an active member of the RSO, died in a car crash on Illinois 13/127 on Oct. 20.

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The vigil was organized in part by Share the Bread member Daniya Tate.

“She was always so outgoing, she was never shy or afraid to do anything,” Tate said. “She made sure that everybody knew her name.”

Representing Peoria, Irby’s hometown, at the vigil was Taylor Hughes, a member of Delta Sigma Theta Alumni.

“She was a recipient of our scholarship. She was committed to her studies, she was committed to making herself a better woman and a better person,” Hughes said. “Peoria’s a small town, everybody knows everybody, and everybody loves and supports everybody. I hate that it happened this way, but I’m so thankful for the community that she had built here.”

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More than 40 students attended the event, holding electric candles in honor of her. 

“(Lyric’s family) needs to know that she was loved here and that she was cared for here,” Tate said.

According to a press release from the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office, Irby was one of three southbound drivers. She collided with a northbound vehicle in an attempt to pass the other southbound vehicles. The engine of her vehicle caught fire shortly after.

The two other southbound drivers, Jerry Ward, 66, from Murphysboro and Trevor Turnbul, 18, from Rochester, got into a minor collision. Other drivers broke Irby’s window and pulled her out of the car. 

Irby was pronounced dead at the scene.  The northbound driver was 71-year-old James Summers from St. Charles, MO. Summers was taken out of his vehicle and placed in a nearby hospital. 

Staff reporter Morrigan Carey can be reached at [email protected]. To stay up to date with all your southern Illinois news, follow the Daily Egyptian on Facebook and Twitter.

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