Ballard crash victims lived for muscle cars

Mike Turner and his friends had one big plan for this summer — taking their muscle cars to the racetrack to see what they could do.

Since he was a child growing up in Ballard, Turner always had loved cars. He even dreamed of earning a living as a mechanic, friends say.

But the 20-year-old and two friends, Spenser Millard, 19, and Kellen Jones, 20, were killed early Sunday in what police say was a high-speed crash near the Ballard Locks.

It was Turner's red 1986 Pontiac Firebird that slammed into a metal sign pole outside a Taco Time, where Northwest Market Street meets Northwest 54th Street, according to his friends. Police say they don't know who was behind the wheel.

Police say the sports car was traveling fast when it hit the pole around 4:40 a.m., killing the three men and leaving a teenage girl who was in the back seat with life-threatening injuries. The girl's name was not released by police.

By Sunday evening, flowers, a stuffed Easter bunny, a Ballard High T-shirt and even a photo of the school's football team from one of the years when Jones played were piled against the Taco Time sign post.

A group of current Ballard High School students and recent graduates gathered underneath the restaurant sign to share memories about their friends.

"It's hard to know what to say right now. You can't find the words to describe the guys," said Wil Barrett, a 17-year-old junior.

Danny Bucher, also a 17-year-old junior, said Turner was known as "the car guy," that Millard was "an all-around good guy," and that Jones was an inspiration to him.

Bucher and the others at the crash site referred to Jones, a former defensive tackle on the football team, by his nickname, "Bobo."

"Bobo is definitely the reason I'm still playing football," Bucher said. "He just put effort into everything he did."

At some point Saturday night, Millard, Jones and Turner had been hanging out at Millard's house, Bucher said. But the teen said he wasn't sure what the men and the girl were doing out so early Sunday morning.

Seattle police spokesman Jeff Kappel said officers are investigating the crash and that it wasn't known if alcohol was a factor. It was raining at the time.

"These were good kids," said Jeremy Allen, who led a Christian outreach group that Millard and Turner had belonged to since they were freshmen in high school. "If it was alcohol, if it was kids trying to drive their cars fast at 4 a.m. it doesn't change who those guys were."

Allen said he was particularly close with Millard and that the two men met regularly to talk about life. Millard was working at Ballard Oil with family members, and even though he was young had the respect of his co-workers, Allen said.

Like Turner, Millard loved cars and had restored a Ford Bronco with the help of his father and grandfather, Allen said.

David Larson, 19, who had been friends with Turner since middle school, surveyed the memorial and said, "Mike was pretty much my brother."

"All we did was work on our cars," said Larson, also a Ballard High graduate.

Larson said Turner was working a construction job with his father and living in Ballard. He said his friend had finished restoring the Firebird recently and planned to race it this summer at Pacific Raceways in Kent.

"We finally got it [the car] ready to go; now this," Larson said.

Turner helped a group of his friends restore old cars with the plan that they would all be ready for racing in Kent. Included in the potential lineup were the Firebird, a 1983 Chevrolet Camaro, a 1981 Chevrolet Camaro, a 1963 Chevrolet Impala and a 1974 Chevrolet Nova.

The families of the three men could not be reached for comment Sunday. Friends say all of the men were Ballard High graduates and still living in the neighborhood.

Andrew Lemm, 21, and Robert Standish, 19, stood in front of the memorial with their arms around the other's shoulders. The two said they worked on cars with Turner.

Standish said Turner recently helped him fix up his Camaro.

Lemm said Turner would scour Craigslist in search of junker cars he could work on. His focus, Larson said, was "American muscle."

"I'm not doing well, and my friend is dead," Lemm said.

Jennifer Sullivan: 206-464-8294 or jensullivan@seattletimes.com