TRAVERSE CITY -- Christina Brooks' locker at Traverse City West Middle School is adorned with signatures, flower bouquets and a cross.
Students grieved Tuesday for Christina, an eighth-grade student who died Monday after being struck by a car in the Upper Peninsula Sunday afternoon.
"Lots of girls were crying, and the entire day, everyone's eyes were red," said eighth-grader Hannah Yancho, who knew Christina from a geography class.
Christina, 13, was struck by a car at about 3 p.m. Sunday on southbound I-75 in Mackinac County's St. Ignace Township.
She was on the shoulder of the interstate after her family stopped to help a stranded driver, Mackinac County Sheriff Scott Strait said. A vehicle driven by Kenneth Cassibo, of the Upper Peninsula's Kincheloe, swerved onto the shoulder and hit her.
Cassibo lost control of his car while attempting to avoid a vehicle in front of him that suddenly stopped, police said. Road conditions were bad, and several crashes had occurred in the area.
"There was a stretch of I-75 that had iced over, basically," Strait said. "There were a couple of rollover accidents in that same vicinity."
Strait couldn't say exactly where Christina was when the collision occurred, or how long her family's vehicle had been stopped.
Christina was taken to the Mackinac Straits Hospital in St. Ignace and later transferred to a Grand Rapids hospital, where she died shortly before 10:30 a.m. Monday.
The loss hit her fellow students hard, her good friend Mariah Bitely, 13, said.
"Everybody's crying," she said. "It was really hard on all of us."
Christina enjoyed volleyball and had a passion for horses, Mariah said.
"She loved horses. She was getting a horse soon," she said. "It was her dream to have one."
She also was strongly devoted to her friends and known for her smile, Mariah said.
"She was always trying to help others with what they needed before she helped herself," she said.
Hannah expressed similar sentiments.
"She was very sweet," she said. "Everybody loved her."
Christina's friend Kascha Sanor also is known for her happy demeanor.
"People used to say that together, we would paint the world yellow because yellow is a happy color," Kascha said. "Anything she could do to cheer someone up (she did)."
Happiness wasn't Christina's only positive trait, Kascha said.
"She was always trustworthy," she said. "Whether she trusted you or not, you could trust her."
Police don't plan to seek charges against Cassibo, Strait said, although the incident remains under investigation.
West Middle School administration sent an e-mail to parents Monday informing them of Christina's death. Christine Davis, executive director of human resources for Traverse City Area Public Schools, said a memorial is in the works.
"It's a very sad day in our district," she said. "Our heart aches for the family."
Funeral arrangements for Christina were not available Tuesday afternoon.
