SEDALIA, Colo. — The mother of a 16-year-old boy hit and killed by a train in Sedalia this month said on Tuesday that she believes earbuds contributed to his death.
Pamela Catalioto said her son Joey died in the crash Nov. 2, just south of Highway 67 and Highway 85. She struggled to get the words out at a news conference Tuesday. She described her son as a bright boy who loved old cars and sounds.
"He was a good kid," Catalioto said as she began to cry.
"Really into audio-like speakers," Catalioto said. "He did like to walk along the tracks just to clear his head and just to be with nature. But I don't think he knew that day, that the way he was walking, the train was going to come from behind."
Joey was walking along the tracks in Sedalia when he was hit and killed by a train. Authorities said the conductor tried to stop as fast as they could.
"It doesn't feel real," Catalioto said.
By the time she got the news, she had already been searching for Joey. She said she followed him to that very area near the tracks using a phone app when suddenly it glitched.
"His face and his AirPods on my phone just move really quick, and I was like, 'Oh that’s a weird glitch' and he was right by the tracks and his AirPod is somewhere else," she said. "That's when I realized when I was looking at the Find My iPhone, I just watched him get hit by the train, and I didn't know."
Catalioto said Joey had plans. He wanted to open his own business one day, and he wanted to fix up a ton of speakers during the holiday break. She said she fears it was the audio in his earbuds that contributed to his death.
"He was wearing Apple AirPods, so he didn't hear the train coming behind him at all, not even when he was really close, he couldn't hear it," she said. "I think that it's important for everybody, that if you're out and about, just don't put both AirPods in. Just leave one out. If he would have left just one out, he would have known. He would have heard it."
Catalioto said she went out to the crash site and spent hours looking for those AirPods but has not been able to find them. The Douglas County Sheriff's Office said the incident is still under investigation.
Catalioto has created a GoFundMe page to help the family with expenses.
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