ACCIDENT KILLS 2 U STUDENTS

Fall from tree, alleged 'road rage' claim lives

by Bill Rolfes and David Baugher

The unrelated deaths of two UM-St. Louis students have shocked the University community in the past month.

Members of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity are mourning the death of 23-year-old Doug Garrett, who died Aug. 14.

Garrett, a member of the fraternity, was at the home of fellow fraternity member Bryant Price in Maryland Heights when he fell from a tree and landed on his back, Steve Wood, Garrett's former roommate and another member of the fraternity, said.

Wood said he and Price jokingly bet Garrett that he couldn't climb the tree because Garrett used to cut down trees for a living.

"That's how Doug was; you couldn't tell him that he couldn't do anything," Wood said. "He got to the point where you ought to come down. We told him to come down, but he said he was going to go all the way to the top. And he made it. He made it to the top."

Wood said Garrett was his best friend. He described Garrett as "genuine" and "honest." Neal Lewis, vice president of Pi Kappa Alpha, said Garrett's death had several effects on the fraternity.

"It made all the members realize they're not immortal," Lewis said. "He (Doug) was one of the persons everybody liked. All the sororities liked him."

Both Wood and Lewis said Garrett's death, besides bringing pain, brought the members closer together.

"In every big group there's cliques," Lewis said. "It made everybody become better friends and feel closer together."

Just three days prior to Garrett's death, Jennifer Lynn Hywari was killed in an automobile accident that authorities are ruling a homicide.

According to police, early on the morning of Monday, Aug. 11, Hywari, 22, was driving to work on Interstate 64 through Chesterfield, when a pickup truck pulled in front of her and braked sharply, causing her to swerve into opposing traffic. Hywari was thrown from her vehicle and killed.

The widely publicized accident, allegedly a case of "road rage," has provoked a firestorm of controversy in the local media.

Authorities have charged John W. Devanny, 27, the driver of the pickup, with involuntary manslaughter and leaving the scene of an accident.

According to press reports, authorities reported that Devanny said he had become angry at Hywari, prior to the incident, when she drove slowly in front of him causing him to spill coffee on himself.

Devanny was released on bond Aug. 15. A court hearing is scheduled for early September.

Richard Resh, who taught Hywari's senior level history class during the winter semester of 1996, remembers her as a shy but well-adjusted student.

"She was a very diligent, hardworking student, very quiet, very considerate," he said.

Hywari completed Resh's class and went on to receive a history degree from UM-St. Louis in January. She was due to return to school this fall to continue her education.

Resh said he didn't recall Hywari's name immediately but was stunned when he remembered it was that of a former student.

"When I found out about the incident, I was profoundly shocked," Resh said. "It's happened once before in my life that a student was killed, and it is a very, very upsetting experience."

Resh called Hywari an intelligent and "thorough" student with an unassuming nature.

"I just can't conceive of something like this happening to someone," Resh said. "I'm just dismayed to think of a young life snuffed out at that age."