Just shy of 9 p.m on April 18, near the intersection of Cole Mill Road and Wyndham Lane in Durham, NC, a grandson of legendary Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski struck and killed a pedestrian.
The pedestrian in question was 15-year-old Jack O’Shea, a freshman at Cardinal Gibbons High School. Reportedly, the boy was out riding his electronic bicycle that evening when 26-year-old Joseph Savarino fatally collided with him in a Ford Explorer. O’Shea was pronounced dead at the scene, nobody else was injured.
The mother of the victim, Allison O’Shea, identified her late son in a Facebook post on the night of Sunday, April 19. “It is with unfathomable sadness that [my husband] and I share that our perfect, smart, athletic, fearless and handsome baby boy, Jack, passed away yesterday, April 18th, at just 15 years old,” she wrote, according to WRAL.
According to public records, Savarino was given a breathalyzer test at about 12:45 a.m on Sunday. His results came in at blood-alcohol concentration 0.11%, over the legal limit of 0.08%. Savarino admitted to drinking that night prior to the crash. He was then held at the Durham County Detention Center by authorities on a $100,000 secured bond. His mother, Debbie Savarino, has since posted his bond.
“It’s horrible to imagine that one day you could be out on a bike and get hit and the person in the car isn’t even going to know what’s happening because they’re not conscious. They’re not mentally there,” McKenna Guillory, a Millbrook sophomore, said of the tragedy.
Later in her post, O’Shea’s mother emphasized how his last day was spent doing what he loved and showed what kind of person he was.
“He woke up and asked to go to confession at Immaculate Conception Church. He then played two baseball games with his high school team, where he did what he always did — showed up fully and excelled at first base. Later, he went on his usual afternoon bike ride with friends,” she said.
Meanwhile, Savarino is awaiting his next appearance in court on May 20. The man has been charged with driving under the influence and a misdemeanor, as well as having his driver’s license revoked by a judge. Savarino’s incident is not the first of its kind in his family. His younger brother, Michael Savarino was a walk-on basketball player for Duke University. In 2022, when he was only 20 years old, he was also charged with DWI and sentenced to one year of probation.
O’Shea’s high school held a mass in remembrance of their student after classes on the Monday following his death. In addition, they made a statement that members of the spiritual life team and counselors would be accessible to students and staff in the school’s time of mourning. That Friday, another mass to celebrate O’Shea’s life was held at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, with a gathering happening afterward at Croasdaile Country Club.
The issue of pedestrian safety is one that is widely felt in a rapidly growing place like Wake county, down to Raleigh citizens and even Millbrook students.
“I’ve almost been hit like three different times,” said Millbrook freshman Asia Miles, referring to her experiences as a pedestrian.
For high school students, this problem is especially relevant, as this is the time when many young people transition from moving around by foot or bike–like the young victim–to being behind the wheel themselves. Students like sophomore Shinsu Veremeev showed concern and wished for more to be done about the matter. He suggested that the divisions between pedestrian spaces like bike lanes and those for drivers could be made more noticeable.
“It’s just [lines] drawn on and at night it is really hard to see,” he said.
Another student, Millbrook freshman Ellie Whitely, commented, “I think there should be more strict rules in place about drunk driving and stuff like that because it can hurt people other than just the driver, which is really unfair.”
