Young Poway Crash Victim Remembered as 'Genuine,' 'Altruistic'

Those who worked with Evelyn Courtney, the victim of an early Thursday morning fatal crash on Poway Road that involved a fire engine, gathered Thursday night at the intersection where she died to remember the girl they say was pure fun with a good heart.

"She was incredibly altruistic, very sweet, had this bigger than life personality," said a co-worker of Courtney's at Stein Mart, Tara Arena. "She was beautiful, inside and out. Very intelligent, witty and sarcastic."

Arena and about 30 others from the local Stein Mart gathered at the southeast corner of the intersection of Poway and Midland Roads, where Courtney died around 4 a.m. Thursday morning after a Poway fire engine, which was on its way to a medic call with its lights on, struck the car she was riding in.

Authorities said they found an open container of alcohol in the vehicle, which was being driven by 44-year-old San Diego resident Robbie Gillespie.

Gillespie was transported to a nearby hospital with non-life threatening injuries, the Sheriff's Department said.

According to Courtney's friends and co-workers, the 19-year-old was a Poway High graduate and aspiring model. She had planned to leave for Mexico for vacation Friday, they said.

"She made life, for anybody, tolerable. She was just a total sweetheart," Arena said. "She’s going to be missed by all of us... while she was here with us, she filled the room with happiness."

At the candlelight vigil held at the intersection, co-workers called Courtney "fun" and reminisced on her love of talking with funny accents and her nickname of "The Kid."

"She was so genuine," Arena said. "You don't meet many people like her."

Sheriff's Traffic Investigators from the Poway Station are still investigating the collision and are asking anyone that might have witnessed it to contact Corporal Todd Murphy at 858-513-2818.