VIDEO: A Big Tragedy Impacts A Small Community

HAMILTON, Miss. (WCBI) – Hamilton residents are still in disbelief tonight, after a grandmother and grandson are killed in a car crash.

16-year old Gavin Toler and his grandmother 57-year old Tyla Toler, both died in the Clarke County accident, while Rusty Toler is in critical condition at a Jackson hospital.

What was supposed to be the start of a week watching the waves on the beach, turns to a weekend of asking why?

This mound is where Gavin Toler felt at home and just part of the legacy the 16-year old will leave behind.

16-year old Gavin Toler was everybody’s all-American. The starting quarterback, the star pitcher, and the kid every parent wanted for a son.

Jayce Evans was one of Gavin’s teammates and says the upcoming baseball season won’t be the same without him.

“I think that’s going to help us get closer together. We all have him in our hearts and all of the memories he’s given us all. We just have to take them with us and just play for him.”

Evans was not only one of Gavin’s teammates, but also a best friend.

“He was a friend that you could ask anything for him to do and he’d try to do it for you. He’d help you out. A friend you could just go over there and talk to and just have a conversation with him and just hangout.”

Evans says Gavin was happy and always tried to cheer everyone up, especially when he would crack this joke.

“He’d always make fun of himself. He’d be like, we all use to mess with him, he had a long neck and we would call him a giraffe and then we would all be sad and then he would just, ‘You know what? I got a giraffe neck,’ and then we’d all just start laughing. He was just a good guy.”

Gavin’s grandmother, 57-year old Tyla Toler was the other passenger taken too soon on Wednesday.

She was the organist for Hamilton Baptist Church.

“She was willing to do any and everything that she could to help the ministry of Hamilton Baptist Church and the music ministry and Sunday school. She was a Sunday school teacher and just every other way that she could. She was just a, just a wonderful lady to know as a friend and to be the pastor of,” says Pastor Robert Moore.

Moore drove to Jackson Wednesday to be with the Toler family.

Moore says words can’t express what the family is going through, or the impact it leaves on Hamilton.

“Like I shared with the family last night at the hospital, I wish I had some magic words that could make it all better, but we don’t and God doesn’t always ask us to understand why this happened and why at this time, but he does ask us to put our faith and our trust in him,” says Moore.

Four other people in the Toler’s SUV received moderate injuries in the collision.

Residents say they’ll continue to support the Toler family during this time.