High school rocked by tragic loss.
A Washington high school football player has his entire family in mourning following his tragic and unnecessary death.
16-year-old Deejay Tuiasosopo was in his first season with the Federal Way High School football team when things came to a terrible end. With dreams of becoming a state champion, it all ended due to a drunk driver.
In the United States, there were 11,904 drunk driving fatalities. This accounts for roughly 30% of all traffic-related deaths nationwide. Now Tuiasosopo has become part of that statistic.
Deejay Tuiasosopo of NFL Family Dies Hours After Game
16-year-old Deejay Tuiasosopo has lost his life. The junior at Federal Way High School and a football player from the prominent Tuiasosopo sports family was killed late Friday night when an out-of-control vehicle struck him on a sidewalk.
Police officers responded to the 30400 block of Pacific Highway South for a fatal collision involving a pedestrian. According to a preliminary investigation, two vehicles collided at the intersection of Pacific Highway and South 304th Street.
After the initial crash, one of the vehicles left the roadway and struck Tuiasosopo, who was standing on a nearby sidewalk. Despite life-saving measures, he would be pronounced dead at the scene.
Both drivers remained at the scene. Consequently, police stated a 29-year-old man suspected of driving under the influence was arrested for vehicular homicide.
Deejay Tuiasosopo comes from a long lineage of athletes. Manu Tuiasosopo, the brother of Deejay’s grandfather, was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks in 1979.
Marques Tuiasosopo was then drafted by the Raiders in the National Football League in 2001. Leslie Gabriel, also within the family tree, is the current head coach of the UW Women’s Volleyball team.
The 220-pound running back and linebacker was set to graduate from high school in 2028. Now his family is planning a funeral.
