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Family of student killed in hit-and-run is working to create a lasting legacy
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(Courtesy photo)
Kevin Ryan, of Columbia, died this past semester when a drunken driver allegedly struck him as he walked back to his dormitory at Towson University. Kevin Ryan would have turned 19 and finished his first year at Towson University in May. Instead, his family, still reeling from a reputedly drunken hit-and-run that claimed Ryan’s life as he walked to campus, is planning a golf tournament to raise money for a memorial scholarship fund in his name. Every day his family struggles through the painful realization that Ryan, a Columbia native and 2007 graduate of Atholton High School, is gone. His heart, eyes, kidneys and other organs live on in eight donor recipients. “There’s not an hour that goes by that you’re not reminded of this,” said Ryan’s uncle, Jamie Ryan, of Clarksville. “It’s spring break, and Kevin should be in Florida with his friends. This summer, we’re all going to North Carolina and renting a huge house for the entire family, and Kevin won’t be there.” In July, the family will have to relive the heartache when they attend the sentencing of Matthew David Miller, 25, of Parkville, who is accused of driving drunk and hitting Ryan this past October. Defense attorney David Irwin said Miller has taken a plea bargain and will plead guilty, but declined to elaborate. At first, Miller claimed innocence. With shards of glass on his shirt and pants, he told police three black men carjacked his vehicle before it struck and killed Ryan as he walked back to his dorm after playing cards with friends. Four hours after the crash, Miller’s blood-alcohol content was .13, court records show. The legal limit is .08. “Whatever his penalty is, it will be nothing like the penalty we face every day,” Jamie Ryan said. “He took a kid’s life who had a very promising future ahead of him.” Ryan, a former Boy Scout, poker player and fan of the “World of Warcraft” game, wasn’t the best student but he seemed to mature in his first few weeks of college and was excited about studying business, his family said. Now his parents, Charlie and Angela Ryan, hope to raise enough money at the golf tournament to award two scholarships each year to former Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts at Towson. (Click here for information on the golf tournament and scholarship drive.) kvolkmann@baltimoreexaminer.com |