14 | December 25, 2013 | Milton Herald | northfulton.com
COMMUNITY
Cambridge mourns loss of student Friends remember Reagan Beene By JONATHAN COPSEY and ALDO NAHED jonathan@northfulton.com
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MILTON, Ga. — The Cambridge High School community was in shock Monday, Dec. 16, after learning of the suicide of one of their own. Reagan Austin Beene was a popular 14-year-old freshman, described as funny and sensitive by family and friends. Beene’s friends called him a prankster who loved to listen to country music, especially Carrie Underwood and Toby STUDIO 7 Keith. He loved the outdoors, Fourteen-year-old Reagan whether it was tubing at the Beene died Dec. 14. Famlakes near his grandparents’ ily, friends and classmates Texas home, playing golf or at Cambridge High School fishing and hunting. mourned his death Dec. 16. “He was funny, always smiling, always happy,” said his mother, Britt Beene. Reagan Beene, who was ago,” she said. “He touched so born in Arlington Heights, a many lives.” suburb of Chicago, Ill., died Mourning students came to Saturday, Dec. 14. school Monday to a makeshift This was a day after Milmemorial on the school’s front ton Police charged the teenlawn and remembered Reagan ager along with a dozen of his on and off campus this week. friends with underThe memorial at the school age drinking at a included flowers and house party in posters with messages D E I V OO Crooked Creek. for their classmate. HA The Beene Susan Hale, FulCenter QR code in white space family moved ton County Schools so that the black edges of the code to Milton in spokeswoman, said overlap the blue crop marks 2005. the school reReagan, sponded to the news RT H F U LT O N . C whose freshby bringing in grief man football counselors and a crisis jersey was No. 15, team. also played middie for “We are trying to be supthe Cambridge High School portive of staff and students,” lacrosse team. Hale said. When it came to televiFriends fondly recalled sion, he loved to watch “Duck Reagan. Dynasty.” “He was like a little brother “That and Dallas Cowboys to me,” said Croix Martini, 16, football,” his mother recalled. who also plays on the lacrosse “The Texas Longhorns were team. “He was really popular second. and had a lot of friends.” “Stonecreek Church has Students at Cambridge been a huge influence on his High are “shocked,” said Carlife and he had just gotten son Smith, 17. baptized a couple of weeks As the lacrosse season be-
Cambridge High School students created a memorial Monday, Dec. 16 in front of the school. Flowers, Bible verses and prayers decorated the flagpole base dedicated to “15,” Reagan’s jersey number. The lawn was decorated with blue and white balloons.
gins in late January and early February, students plan to dedicate the season to Reagan. “We are writing ‘RB’ on our helmets,” said Smith. In the morning of Dec. 16, half of the student population at Cambridge High walked to Stonecreek Church and many checked out after that. “It’s a day of remembrance and grief,” Smith said, after checking out of school and spending Monday afternoon at Alpharetta North Park. Smith and other members of the school’s lacrosse team said they needed to “blow off some steam.” Cambridge Principal Ed Spurka sent word out to parents over the weekend about the loss. “We express our deepest sympathy to the Beene family; our thoughts and prayers are with them in this time of grief,” he wrote. “Tonight and in the coming days, I encourage you to talk to your children about their feelings and experiences and encourage them to seek support from our counseling staff if appropriate.” Social media sites like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter were filled with many posted remembrances and sympathy to the family. “The biggest smiles hold the most pain, and he had one hell of a smile. RIP Reagan Beene,” tweeted fellow Cambridge student Remy Johnston. In addition to his mother, Reagan is survived by his father, Jeffry A. Beene; older sisters, Anderson “Ace,” 20, and Mallory, 17, and younger brother, Travis, a seventhgrader at Hopewell Middle School. A memorial service was held Wednesday, Dec. 18, at 3 p.m. at Stonecreek Church. In lieu of flowers, the family is requesting donations to Stonecreek Church, 13540 Ga. 9 N., Milton, Ga. 30004 in the name of “Reagan Austin Beene.”
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Outpourings of sympathy have flooded the Internet for the Beene family My deepest sympathy to you and your family for your loss. Please accept my condolences on behalf of myself and my family with God’s grace to help you through this most difficult time. We will keep you and your family in our thoughts and prayers. Darren Morley, Cartersville, Ga. So sorry for your loss; my heart breaks for you and your family. Thoughts and prayers with all of you. Christie Green, Ga. Our hearts are broken with sadness for the Beene family. We are keeping Reagan and the entire Beene family in our daily prayers. The Townsend family, Milton, Ga. We are so very sorry to hear of your loss. You have been in our thoughts,
and we will continue to pray for comfort and strength to you all. The Willsey family, Long Valley, N.J. I am the mother of one of your neighbors. I am sick at heart over your loss and my heartfelt prayers go out to your entire family. May the Good Lord be your strength and comfort at this time. Marilyn Schneider, Wood Ridge, New Jersey Although I didn't know this young guy he has touched me..I will like to send my condolences to the Beene/ David family & Reagans friends.I can tell how deeply he is love & how much he will be missed...God has a special assignment for Reagan spread your wings baby you are one of Gods special angels..#rip Emery Brown, Pacoima, California
Teen party broken up by police By JONATHAN COPSEY jonathan@northfulton.com MILTON, Ga. – Police broke up a teen party Dec. 13 that included nearly a dozen 14- and 15-year-olds who were allegedly drinking alcohol. The boy who held the party, Reagan Beene, was found dead the following day. According to Milton Police, they received a call of a party on South Heron Run Court, in the Crooked Creek neighborhood. The caller said teens were drinking and smoking marijuana in the front yard. When the responding officer arrived, he wrote in his report that there was no evidence of a party. As he was walking back to his car to leave, he overheard a teen talking on her cellphone. Approaching her, he said he saw a can of beer on the ground beside her. She allegedly admitted others were inside the home, drinking. The officer reported seeing several teens closing blinds and windows in an attempt to avoid the police, even going so far as to jump out a bedroom window and flee across the nearby golf course. Ten teens were found in the house, along with “numerous empty cans of beer.” Milton Police Spokesman Capt. Shawn McCarty said officers have discretion of how they handle incidents like this. “It depends on the situation,” McCarty said, adding that in this case, “all the children were 14 and 15 so the officer felt the most appropriate course was to write a ticket and release them to their parents.” The Milton rumor mill took over after the bust, with teens saying kids were kept in “paddy wagons” or arrested. McCarty said that was not true. “We don’t own any paddy wagons,” he said. Nine of the kids were kept in the house until they could be turned over to their parents. Beene was turned over to his older sister. All teens were cited for underage consumption.
An opinion from the publisher, Ray Appen
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