Fed. Way Students Mourn 3 Teens -- Boys May Have Been Going 80 Mph Before Accident

FEDERAL WAY - A mournful mood fell over the Decatur High School library yesterday as students passed in and out to talk about three of their classmates who were killed Friday in an auto accident.

"We just want students to be able to express themselves," said Principal Jerry Millett.

"They can talk about happy things, familiar things, whatever they feel like discussing."

An eight-person crisis-intervention team, which included district psychologists and counselors, was available to listen to students and help them understand their grief.

It was not an easy task.

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The three students, Hyeng Shim, Duke Rhee and Brian Chon, all 16-year-old Decatur juniors, were described by staff members and classmates as well-liked.

Shim played on the school tennis team and was an honors student. "He was really funny and made you feel really good about yourself," said Grace Jang, a Decatur sophomore.

Rhee was described by a friend, Jean Nam, another sophomore, as

being "high on life - very outgoing and fun."

Jang and Nam described Chon as the most quiet and serious of the three. He played football at the school last year.

Shortly before the accident at 10:18 p.m. Friday, the three boys had attended a service at Federal Way's Korean Mission Church. Shim and other area Korean students had acted in a series of skits.

All three boys were excited about drving home in Rhee's new sports car, a 1993 Mitsubishi Eclipse, which was a recent gift from parents, said Ju Shim, Hyeng's older sister.

Rhee was driving, according to police investigators, when he failed to negotiate a turn on Southwest 320th Street near 36th Avenue Southwest. The car crossed over the centerline, rammed through a chain-link fence and fell down a 30-foot embankment, coming to rest on its roof.

Rhee and Shim were dead at the scene. Chon died early Sunday morning at Harborview Medical Center, where he had been airlifted with massive head injuries, said Rick Chubb of King County police.

Speeding caused accident

Chubb said speeding was listed as the cause, something confirmed by friends Jang and Nam, who said they were following in another car and estimated that Rhee's car was traveling 80 mph in the 40-mph zone.

"We came around that turn and they were gone," Nam said. "We thought they had ditched us or something when we got to our house and they never showed up like they were supposed to."

Joshua Kim, a youth pastor at Korean Mission Church, said he saw the boys in the church parking lot moments before they left.

As Kim drove some other students home, he noticed ambulances and sirens.

"It's difficult to express how much grief people are feeling today, because so many people knew all three of them," he said.