Jan. 19, 2006

MONUMENT - Looking out the back window of their Monument house, Larry and Cindy Losasso can almost see the spot where the crash happened.

They can almost see the flowers, balloons, stuffed animals and words of remembrance that have appeared there since their daughter, Sara Michelle Losasso, 14, died.

The memorials -- removed at least once -- keep coming back.

And when the Losassos drive anywhere, to Interstate 25 or to town, they must drive past that spot.

"I don't know there is an adjustment you can make," Larry Losasso said. "A huge part of our lives is gone."

Students leaving Lewis-Palmer High School who drive north also must pass the spot where their classmate died Jan. 19, near County Line Road and Monument Hill Road on the east side of I-25.

School had let out that Wednesday afternoon, and students were driving home.

Sara was buckled into the passenger seat of the 2000 Dodge Neon driven by classmate Michael Toter. Two other Lewis-Palmer students, Jessica Phillips and Kyle Weems, were in the back.

Colorado State Patrol trooper Gary Flippen said Toter -- who got his license just weeks earlier -- was driving at least 54 mph north on Monument Hill Road in a 45-mph zone as he approached a 90-degree curve. A GMC Suburban was heading south on the road.

Toter lost control in the curve, the car started to spin and went into the southbound lane, according to the accident report. The Suburban slammed directly into the passenger side where Sara was sitting.

She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Flippen recommended to the 4th Judicial District Attorney's Office that Toter be charged with vehicular homicide caused by reckless driving.

Toter is to appear in court Tuesday, at which time charges could be filed.

Sara's death was like a rock dropped in a tranquil pond.

"I was surprised by the number of people she touched," said Larry Losasso, retired president and chief executive of Sinton Dairy. "She knew more people than we did."

"She tried to help everyone," Cindy Losasso said.

A memorial Web page to Sara showed the depth of Sara's compassion for others.

Out of dozens of entries -- some entered months after her death - - almost every one mentions Sara's contagious smile. Friends went to her with problems.

She reached out to several newcomers in Monument, inviting new students to join her and her friends at lunch. She talked to the less popular students at school.

"Sara had always accepted everyone she met," wrote another friend, Katherine Crawford.

Some of Sara's friends are upset that other young drivers seemed to have learned nothing from Sara's death

"They go to all her services, but at the end of the day, they're still driving like idiots," said David Veal. "They didn't learn anything."

Sara's room, painted in her favorite powder blue with clouds, was the epicenter of her busy social life. The Losassos said friends were over almost every day.

She had frequent sleepovers and used her computer to instant message friends as far away as Michigan. Her television is still tuned to her favorite station, Nickelodeon.

Cindy Losasso said she misses how Sara would come home from school every day and hug her first, even before going to the refrigerator for a snack.

"I feel cheated," Cindy Losasso said. "Cheated out of her prom. Cheated out of her marriage. Cheated out of any of her children."

And cheated out of Sara's 15th birthday, which would have been April 30.

"We did a lot together," Larry Losasso said. "But the things we didn't do together, that's what hurts."

The drive past Sara's memorial, instead of a grim reminder, is turning into a symbol of how Sara touched others in her short life.

"If you know the level of the way people feel about her, then the monument is nice," Cindy Losasso said. "It lets us know people are thinking of her, and thinking of us. That helps."

CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0110 or dhuspeni@gazette.com