Boy held girl on tracks as train approached: witness

EDMONTON — As warning bells clanged, red lights flashed and witnesses recoiled from what they’d seen, one of the first to reach the spot where two teens were run down Tuesday night by an LRT train screamed: “Is anyone alive?”

It seems clear now that Delia Papastesis, trapped under the second car, was still breathing.

One man who sprinted to the scene said he and a police officer arrived moments after the train ground to a halt near 82nd Street. When the officer shone his flashlight under the train, they saw two bodies beneath the second car.

The man said another youth, a friend of two teens struck by the train, was nearby when the bodies were found, and became so distraught he had to be restrained by police.

“He was freakin’ out,” said the man, who did not want his name published. “He was saying, ‘That’s my buddy, that’s my buddy.’ ”

That buddy, Jamie Kootenay, 19, was pronounced dead at the scene, and his body lay for hours beside the tracks, covered by an orange tarp.

Dozens of police, firefighters and paramedics responded to the call, and some worked frantically to free Papastesis from under the train.

After about an hour, the 19-year-old was lifted out, placed on a stretcher and rushed to hospital, where she later died.

One witness who saw the tragedy unfold broke down in tears as she described the moments before two teens were struck down.

The woman, who did not want to be identified, said she was making dinner when she heard yelling, then looked outside to see a woman running down the tracks with a man chasing her.

The witness said the man grabbed the woman from behind and pulled her down on the tracks, then laid on top of her with his full weight as the train bore down on them.

“I just remember thinking, they’re going to get up,” the woman said. “Like, ‘Get up you guys, it’s getting closer,’ and then I just started screaming. He had lots of time to get off of her.”

Homicide detectives have been called in to investigate whether the deaths were accidental or criminal, and are interviewing witnesses and examining evidence. Autopsies were scheduled for Wednesday afternoon.

A woman identifying herself by e-mail as Kootenay’s cousin said people who know the couple are angry about the suggestion the young man may have held his girlfriend down on the tracks.

“Jamie Kootenay didn’t hold the girl down on the tracks, he would never do such a thing, he always had a kind heart,” she wrote in an e-mail.

Grieving family members gathered Wednesday afternoon not far from the tracks, just off 82nd Street and 114th Avenue, where the two were killed. Papastesis’s sister and cousin placed bouquets of flowers at the scene.

“It’s hard for me to believe,” said Delia’s older sister, Janice Randhile. “It’s hard to know what people are saying about what happened. It was not in his character, he was always so respectful and caring.”

Randhile said she saw her sister and Kootenay at Kingsway Mall at around 4:30 p.m. Tuesday. She had arranged for Delia to babysit for her, and had given her some money in advance.

“She and Jamie were both there and they looked really happy,” said Randhile. “So when my brother called me and told me what happened, I was like, ‘what?’ ”

Police say a group of six young adults were walking east of a marked LRT crossing at 82nd Street and 113th Avenue at about 8:15 p.m. Tuesday moments before two of them were hit by the train.

Randhile said it’s possible the couple were headed to Kootenay’s home, just north of the scene near the Coliseum LRT station.

Delia had recently graduated from Amiskwaciy Academy, a First Nations high school near the City Centre Airport, said Randhile.

Kootenay had also attended the school in the past, where they met, and graduated last year. They had been dating for two years, and enjoyed going to round dances and powwows.

“We would always see them there laughing, goofing around, and just having fun together,” said Randhile. “I loved them both, they were such good kids.”

Reached by phone, Kootenay’s family expressed shock and asked for prayers for both families.

“He was a bright kid, a helpful little gentleman, just a caregiver for people,” said Brenda Kootenay, Jamie’s grandmother.

Kootenay’s mother is currently in hospital and only learned what happened when she was awakened Wednesday.

“She doesn’t believe it, she thinks her son is coming home,” said Brenda Kootenay. “She doesn’t want to believe that he’s gone.”

Jamie had been helping his father with four younger brothers and one sister, waking them up and getting them to school, during his mother’s illness. One of his brothers had been with Jamie earlier in the evening, but had walked home while the couple were still out with other friends,

Jamie was planning on working at a casino in Whitecourt and had plans to go college or join the army, his grandmother said.

Residents of an apartment building that overlooks the tracks were shaken by what happened.

“It was brutal,” said Jenna Biegel, who was visiting a friend in the building at the time the two teens were hit.

“I couldn’t sleep last night,” she said “I was shocked.”

Another resident of the building, Taylor George, said her husband was out walking the dogs when she heard sirens, and looked outside to see what was happening. Her neighbour told her two teens had been killed.

When she ran downstairs, her husband was already at the scene.

“He said, ‘You do not want to see this,” she said. “It’s very sad. I hope their families have support during this time.”

Victim Services and the critical incident stress management team were at the scene Tuesday to provide support to witnesses, family and emergency responders.