Las Vegas teen fatally injured after arriving in Ohio for conference

Published: 2007-11-08

COLUMBUS, Ohio (CNS) -- Veronica Gantt, 16, who had traveled to Columbus from Las Vegas to attend the National Catholic Youth Conference, was struck by a vehicle and died in the early morning hours of Nov. 8. Gantt was part of a Las Vegas delegation that had arrived just a few hours before the accident that claimed her life. Mark Butler, director of the Columbus diocesan Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry, said Gantt was part of a group of 15 young people and adults from a Las Vegas parish who were traveling to the conference with another group from the Diocese of Colorado Springs, Colo. The two groups were on a flight that was delayed and did not get into Columbus until past midnight. There was no meal available on the plane, so after the Nevada youths checked into a hotel near the Ohio State University campus, Gantt, another youth and two adults went to a nearby McDonald's restaurant to purchase food for everyone. They were walking back to the hotel from the restaurant and facing traffic when Gantt was struck at about 2:40 a.m. by a large van or a truck that continued up the road without stopping.

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