Students remember coach killed in wrong-way accident

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Teenagers at Heights High School are remembering their coach and mentor Adrian Byrd, who was killed in a car accident involving a wrong-way driver.

Students and their families gathered on the track at Heights High Saturday night to pray and release balloons in Byrd's memory.

"I guess I kind of got caught in high school life transitioning from middle school to high school, and I just was slipping with algebra and English and stuff like that," one student said. "Any time I would struggle, my teacher would just send me to Coach Byrd and Coach Byrd would have a speech with me, just telling me to keep pushing, support me and help me along the way."

Upcoming senior Kameron Curtis said news of Byrd's tragic death spread quickly among the team.

"I got the news in a group message that Coach Byrd had gotten in a wreck and passed away," Curtis said. "When that happened, I didn't believe it, but it came to me and hit me real hard and still to this day."

Friends said Byrd's wife, who was also injured in the car accident, is still in critical condition in the hospital.

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