Family tragedy multiplies with death of mom, children

In July, 3 other family members were killed while on the road.

By CHAO XIONG, Star Tribune

Last update: September 28, 2009 - 9:28 PM

Cheyenne Lovely Norcross was supposed to pick up Michaelene Norcross early Friday and take her for a spin around town to brighten her cousin's recovery from major back surgery. But when the pregnant mother of three young boys didn't show up, her cousin went looking.

Rumor was, there had been a car accident on Hwy. 34 about 3 miles east of White Earth. No one had heard from Cheyenne and at the scene, her car sat submerged about 4 feet in Nett Lake.

"I got out and ran," Michaelene Norcross said Monday. "I ran past the firemen and the police. I just looked in the ambulance and didn't see nobody in there."

Cheyenne, who was four months pregnant, her 3-year-old son, Rock Keezer III, and her 8-month-old son, Keyian Keezer, were dead.

The deaths struck family members especially hard because three other family members and a neighbor were killed in a van rollover northeast of Detroit Lakes on July 4.

"It is hard, it is so hard," Michaelene said. "Why did all of this happen?"

About 11 a.m. Cheyenne's two-door Ford Escort and a pickup truck pulling a trailer collided head-on along the sweeping curve of the highway. Weather conditions were perfect, sunny and dry, authorities said. After the collision, the vehicles slid off the road and fell about 80 feet, landing in the lake. The pickup driver, David Lee Canoy, 40, of Ogema, Minn. suffered minor injuries.

White Earth police were among the first on the scene.

"It was shock and disbelief that we couldn't do anything to rescue any of the people in the vehicle," said police chief Randy Goodwin. "It was very obvious that everyone was killed instantly."

No obvious cause for crash

It appeared that Cheyenne's children were properly restrained in the vehicle; it's unknown if she was wearing a seat belt, the chief said. Alcohol does not appear to be a factor, although toxicology reports on both drivers are pending. Goodwin said it's too early to speculate on what caused the crash.

The July accident killed Michaelene's sister, Charlene Norcross, 22; her first cousin, Kayla Norcross, 24; her uncle, Gregory Norcross, 45, and neighbor Scott Adams, 28. Another cousin, Donna Peake, was paralyzed in that crash. Chad Stewart, 26, of Detroit Lakes is charged with multiple counts of criminal vehicular homicide and operation in the crash. His blood-alcohol-concentration was 0.15 that night, according to the charges.

All the women killed in the accidents were close and thought of each other as sisters even though they were cousins, Michaelene said.

Michaelene spent Thursday night with Cheyenne goofing around on the Internet and looking at clothes. When they were about to part ways at 1:30 a.m. Friday, Cheyenne offered to come back about 9 a.m. to take Michaelene for a drive.

"We were going to just go for a drive around town to get me out of the house" because of my bad back, Michaelene said. "She was always there for me."

7-year-old was at school

Cheyenne grew up in Ponsford, Minn. She had four younger brothers and three younger sisters. She graduated from Circle of Life High School, and had a third son, 7-year-old Aaron Keezer, who was at school when the crash occurred.

Cheyenne and her relatives are members of the White Earth band of Chippewa, and she excelled at traditional native dancing, Michaelene said.

She worked at Shooting Star casino as a bartender, and hoped to go back to college and live in a home of her own.

"She was an outgoing person," Michaelene. "She always tried hard."

The accident remains under investigation. The Becker County attorney's office will consider any possible criminal charges, which are not anticipated at this time, according to the sheriff's office.

A wake, funeral and burial at a family grave are planned for this week.

Chao Xiong • 612-673-4391