Candlelight vigil for teen killed in crash

Buffalo, NY (WIVB) - Saturday was an emotional night in Buffalo, as loved ones gather to remember a teenager killed in a crash.

Though Angela Keim was just 14 years old, friends and family say, she touched a lot of souls during her relatively short time on Earth.

As night fell and the stars emerged, candlelight dotted the Rose Garden of Delaware Park below. Dozens stood in silence, their heads bowed, to remember 14-year-old Angela Keim.

"We light these candles of prayer and dedicate it for Angela and her family's needs," Keim's friend, Brianna Valenti, read. "May your light surround them, may your love be their support, and and may your life flow through them."

Keim died January 28, in a car crash on Versailles Plank Road on the Cattaraugus Indian Reservation.

Valenti told News 4 organized the vigil so that people would have a place, closer to home, to both mourn Keim's death and celebrate her life.

"Her family just needs it," she said. "They had to go through, and make cards, saying "In loving memory of Angela." I mean, it's their daughter. And the mass, seeing her [casket] go down the aisle... they shouldn't have to go through that."

Keim's father takes comfort in knowing how many people loved his youngest daughter.

"It makes me feel great," George Kuntz said. I mean, everytime I see... it doesn't matter if I know the people or not."

Among those people are Teaira Marbury and Ashley Troidl. They described Keim as their "best friend." Marbury and Troidl say they "clicked" instantly with Keim when she first came to the Frontier Central School District four years ago.

Since then, the three have been together almost constantly, doing anything and everything.

"If you could tell her one thing, and she could hear it, what would you want to tell her?" News 4's Rachel Kingston asked.

"Why did she have to go so soon? I love her and miss her," replied Troidl.

"I would tell her that I love her, and I will always love her, and that she's beautiful, said Marbury.

When Angela Keim was four years old, her father wrote a poem for her called, "Daddy Loves You." Someone read that poem aloud at Saturday's vigil.

It was almost as if Kuntz was foreshadowing the future, when he penned the last two lines: "And life is short, but also great, as long as I have you."

Keim's loved ones also held a moment of silence for Elizabeth "Lizzie" Szewczyk. The 13-year-old was critically injured in the crash, and remains at Women and Children's Hospital.