Norwich student killed in DUI tragedy after party

A Norwich student was killed and several others were critically injured early Sunday morning in a single-car accident that occurred as the students left an off-campus party on Winch Hill Road in Northfield.

Freshman Renee Robbins from Kentwood, Mich., died at age 18. Two Norwich students have been charged in the incident.

Eight Norwich students crammed into a five-passenger car that went off the road and hit multiple trees, according to police reports. Robbins was pronounced dead at the scene, said Sgt. Chuck Satterfield, a Northfield police officer.

Satterfield was the first to arrive at the accident.

Derek Seber, 22, a Norwich student who was driving the Acura sedan, and Logan O'Neill, 20, who organized the party, were taken into custody.

"The driver attempted to get away from the crash scene," Satterfield said, but was later found in the woods nearby. His "blood alcohol level was almost two and a half times the legal limit," he said.

The other passengers in the car were also freshmen, all living in Crawford.

Tory Kethro, 18, a criminal justice major from Barnstable, Mass., was sitting on the lap of another student in the back and suffered two broken legs.

Kethro said she remembers "having a bad feeling in her stomach, that something wasn't right." Once in the car, she remembers passing trees "very, very fast, at an extreme speed."

At a press conference held Sunday afternoon, Norwich President Richard Schneider said, "The Northfield Police, two state troopers, six ambulances" responded to the scene.

Ambulances from Northfield, Montpelier, Barre Town and Williamstown were at the accident and seven students were transported via ambulance.

As of press time there were three students being treated at Fletcher Allen Medical Center in Burlington, one in the intensive care unit.  Three others had been released from Center Vermont Medical Center. One student is being treated at Gifford Medical Center.

According to Satterfield, Robbins was sitting in the front passenger seat on another student's lap and "no one in the car was wearing safety belts."

"If I wore my seat belt I'd probably only have whiplash, not two broken legs," Kethro said.

Kethro said she wants "students to take this as a lesson learned. ... It shouldn't happen."

According to police, the accident is still under investigation. Schneider said that after police are finished, the` university will conduct its own investigation.

Seber was held behind bars until Monday when he and O'Neill appeared in Barre District Court.

Police said Seber was being held on $100,000 bail, O'Neill on $2,500.

According to the WCAX website, Seber was released into the custody of his parents in Maryland, after $10,000 cash bail was paid. Both Seber and O'Neill pled not guilty.

O'Neill was recently arrested for his second DUI and one condition of his release is that he not purchase or consume alcohol.

Charged with three felonies, Seber could be facing a maximum of 45 years in jail. O'Neill has been charged with enabling a minor to drink alcohol, violating conditions of release and being a minor in possession of alcohol. Police say it is unknown if anyone else in the vehicle will be charged.

"This is an unfathomable tragedy and the entire university community is grieving over this," Schneider said.

Kethro wants students to know that everything the Norwich community is doing is much appreciated.

"We are all very lucky and happy that you are all there to help us out," she said.

According to an email from Schneider, a memorial service will be held on campus next week.