CINCINNATI — Sixteen-year-old Kyle Plush is remembered by his former Mercy Montessori School classmates, teachers, and alumni as a creative, vibrant and kind child during a prayer service held Thursday night, according to our partners at WCPO.
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The teen died two days earlier in the parking lot of Seven Hills High School when his van seat fatally crushed him after being trapped in the third row seat bench.
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Plush attended Mercy Montessori from kindergarten to sixth grade, and according to principal Patty Normille, his empathy for others, love of science, and relentless positivity distinguished him as a “small guy with a big personality.”
TIMELINE: 911 calls, officers’ response to Kyle Plush death
Although he lived with spinal developmental problems and other medical issues that impeded his physical mobility, he loved sports, even participating in athletics at Seven Hills School as a member of the tennis team.
Investigators believe Plush may have been retrieving a tennis racquet from his Honda Odyssey when he became trapped inside the van, where he suffocated due to chest compression, according to WCPO.
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Hamilton County prosecutors are launching a full investigation to determine exactly what happened when Plush, who made two 9-1-1 calls begging for help, was not immediately responded to and reportedly ignored by the 911 operator.
In the last moments of his life, Plush told the operator: "Tell my mom I love her."
Visitation for the teen has been scheduled from 2-5 p.m. Sunday, April 15 at T.P. White & Sons Funeral Home at 2050 Beechmont Ave.
A service will follow Monday morning at St. Rose Church on Riverside Drive.