There was unmistakable sorrow and anguish in Langley Thursday evening as family and friends of 14-year-old Carson Crimeni gathered to honour the boy less than 24 hours after the healthy teen went into medical distress and died.
“Carson was a really beautiful kid,” said Carson’s mother Chantell Griffiths. “He really was. He was special…he was loving.”
A group of people called 911 after finding Carson unresponsive around 10:00 p.m. Wednesday near the Walnut Grove Community Centre.
He later died in hospital and his mom believes it was because somebody gave him drugs.
Carson was seen at the skate park in the early afternoon with a group of boys who were taunting him and recording videos as his condition worsened and he looked extremely unwell.
Some of those videos were then posted to social media.
"It made me feel sick to my stomach and disgusted because as a result of that behaviour, my son is dead,” said Griffiths. “I had to come from the morgue and view him."
Although still reeling with grief, the boy’s parents said the large group of people who showed up at the Thursday evening vigil provided some comfort.
"To come here and see all this love and support and how many people loved him and cared about him,” said his dad Aron Crimeni. “And to hear the stories...people tell me stories about how he touched their lives and about how he made their day better."
At this point, doctors who treated Carson haven’t been able to tell his parents what he ingested that could have contributed to his death.
The BC Coroner’s Service is investigating, along with Langley RCMP and the Independent Investigations Office.
At Thursday’s vigil, RCMP pulled a group of Carson’s friends aside to speak with them.
Regardless of the outcome of the investigation, his family will never be the same.
“He was my best friend,” his dad sobbed as he wiped away tears.
