Driver of van in fatal crash near Iowa City didn’t have valid license

IOWA CITY — A City High student hit by a car Monday night while playing a game with friends has died, a school official confirmed.

City High principal John Bacon said Jackson Charles Meardon, who went by JC, died overnight due to injuries he suffered when he was hit by a van Monday night on Dane Road near Iowa City. Bacon said he could not comment further, except to add counselors would be available to students all day at the school.

Jose Michel Fajardo, head boys soccer coach at City High, described Meardon as 'a very loving kid' who was always smiling. He said Meardon had friends and fellow soccer players at his hospital bedside all day Tuesday because he was someone 'who was always there for his friends.'

'I know that he would like us to be smiling because he always had a big smile on his face,' Fajardo said.

Fajardo said Meardon was poised to play varsity soccer for City High next year. Fajardo said he had worked with Meardon in camps when he was younger but became close with him when he was an eighth-grader and could begin attending City High soccer camps.

Fajardo said Meardon was talented and committed to soccer, always attending camps or extra open playing times whenever he could. He said the team chose to keep Meardon on junior varsity last season so he could get as much playing time as possible, but he was always on the 'radar to become a varsity player.'

'[We] have to make sure his family is ok and that we're they're for them and that No. 12 remains alive at City High because we cannot forget about this kid,' Fajardo said.

A vigil on the City High soccer field is to take place at 9 p.m. Wednesday. All are welcome to attend.

Fajardo said he hopes the vigil is used to celebrate Meardon's life and take care of his family.

The Johnson County Sheriff's Office was called to a car-pedestrian crash on Dane Road just south of the Highway 218 overpass around 10:39 p.m. Monday. Authorities said three boys — including Meardon — were walking when two of them were hit by a southbound minivan driven by Julia Elgatian, 31, of Iowa City.

The speed limit along that section of Dane Road is 45 mph. The road is paved, but unmarked, and thick weeds line the road south of the bridge, which rises over Highway 218. There are no lights in the area, though there are homes that start about 100 yards both north and south of the overpass. Further south is the Lacina Meadows neighborhood.

Johnson County Sheriff Lonny Pulkrabek said Wednesday the crash is under investigation, but authorities confirmed the boys were playing a game called 'hostage' when the fatal collision occurred. Pulkrabek said the game involves dropping off blindfolded participants at an undisclosed location. The participants then remove their blindfolds and have to describe to a driver where they are so they can be picked up and returned to a starting point. Another team is doing the same thing at another location and the winner is whichever team returns to the starting point first, Pulkrabek said.

Wednesday's news release states the three boys were standing on Dane Road when the van was approaching and they believed it was a friend coming to pick them up. When they realized the van was not slowing down, the boys tried to move and two were hit.

'One of the young men was struck almost head on by the van and was severely injured,' the release states. The condition of the second teen who was injured has not been released. The third person in the group also has not been identified.

The sheriff's office cited Elgatian with failure to have a valid license and said it is too early to determine if additional charges are warranted. According to online court records, Elgatian was cited for operation of a motor vehicle with an expired license in Johnson County in 2013, having no valid driver's license in 2014 in Johnson County and having no valid driver's license in July 2015 in Scott County.

Pulkrabek said it appears as though Elgatian has not obtained her license for the last few years, but that it was not suspended or revoked. Nonetheless, she cannot legally operate a motor vehicle at this time, Pulkrabek said.

'She cannot legally be driving,' he said. 'Obviously, people want to throw some blame out there. Those boys shouldn't have been on the road, either. They should have gotten off the road immediately.'

That said, Pulkrabek said the crash could have occurred, even if Elgatian had a valid license.

'It's dark out there,' he said. 'Just like any rural, unincorporated area, it's not lit up. If somebody is standing in the middle of the road, you're not going to see them until your headlights hit them.'

[View the story "Remembering JC Meardon" on Storify]