Towson University freshman Kevin Ryan, 18, was returning to his dormitory from a party at a nearby off-campus house when he was killed by a drunk driver.
"He had only been here six weeks, but a lot of people knew him personally," said Jan Lucas, editor of the Towson Daily Digest, describing the freshman. Ryan had been planning to study finance at Towson, and was described by his peers as well-liked and easygoing.
Ryan's death occurred two days after the accident, which occurred Friday, Oct. 12, allowing his family members time to decide to donate his organs and doctors an opportunity to find recipients. He had been taken to Sinai Hospital's intensive care unit.
Ryan was walking home at about 2 a.m. on Friday night when he was hit by a car which had spun out of control on Hillen Road, approximately two miles east of the Towson campus, and jumped the curb. He had been out that evening watching television and playing cards.
According to police reports, Ryan was thrown across several lanes of traffic and then hit by a second car as he lay on the sidewalk. He died the next morning after being taken to a nearby hospital's emergency room.
Matthew Miller, a 25-year-old resident in a nearby neighborhood, has been arrested in connection with the incident. Miller is being charged with three offenses related to drunk driving; however, Miller denies that he was driving the car, claiming that someone had hijacked his car earlier that evening and that the hijacker hit Ryan. Miller has been additionally charged with eight hit-and-run charges for causing a life-threatening injury while impaired.
Miller's blood-alcohol level was 0.13 percent. He was traveling east on Hillen Road when his car, a 2002 Subaru sedan, hit a curb and went to the left, hitting Ryan as he was walking on the sidewalk of Goucher Boulevard and Hillen Road. Miller then re-entered traffic on Goucher, fleeing the scene.
The driver of the second vehicle will not be charged.
"I don't feel bitterness toward that person," Charlie Ryan, Kevin's father, said in an interview with the Towson Towerlight. "His punishment will be his guilt that he killed someone."
To honor Kevin's memory, a candle light vigil was held at the university on Wednesday, Oct. 17 at 8 p.m. at Speaker's Circle.
Kevin's parents have set up a scholarship in his memory for students at Towson University. "Kevin's Gift' will embrace the donor program and promote it on the Web page as an avenue for people to give," Charlie Ryan said.
"Think to the past, remember Kevin and celebrate his life," reads the tagline on the site. "Look to the future and see all the people he will help."
The Living Legacy Foundation, which assisted with Kevin's organ donation, is listed in connection with the scholarship on its Web site, http://www.kevinryansgift.org.
