Meadowbrook Student dies after being hit by train (RIP Joshua Franklin)

 

CHESTERFIELD COUNTY - Chesterfield Police have identified the man killed in a train accident Friday night to be a local high school student.

Police say Joshua D. Franklin, an 18 year-old Meadowbrook High School student who lives in the 6400 block of Cosmic Rd. was walking by the tracks near the Defense Supply Center when he was struck by a train. The incident happened at around 9:30 p.m. Friday night.

Franklin was pronounced dead on the scene. The incident remains under investigation.

A vigil is scheduled to remember the victim Monday night. Friends and family will gather at the railroad tracks where Franklin's body was found at 7:00 pm.

His mother tells CBS 6, she believes he was rushing home from a friends house to meet a 10pm curfew.

"He told me he wasn't going to use it again. That's why I knew he was rushing. He probably just wasn't thinking and used the shortcut," said Chrisandra Franklin.

When Chrisandra Franklin got the news about her son being struck by a train, she and her daughters rushed to the scene.

"I went up the train tracks, the police said you can't come up here and I said this might be my son. Once I saw his body, I said, Jesus, I knew it was my son."

Franklin says her son had his faults but called him a special young man.

"He cooked me breakfast every Saturday morning. He watched over my youngest daughter, you know. He was a big brother. It was like he was the man of the house," said Franklin.

Joshua's friends say he worked at the Boys and Girls club on Bainbridge street in South Richmond for the past three years.

They say he loved to play football and had planned to go to college.

And you could always count on him for a good laugh.

"He was a loving person, make you laugh, always put a smile on your face. He was just goofy a real comedian, good to be around," said best friend Casey Trice.

Family and friends comforted Joshua's mother and sisters at their Chesterfield apartment. Still in shock over this tragedy now asking why it had to happen.

Chrisandra Frankllin says "I love him but I know God loves him more. And I know I have angels watching over me but now I have a personal angel looking over me because I know my son was one."

"I just wish he could come back. It's not going to happen but I just miss him and love him," said Trice.

Many kids in living in the Regency Lake apartments in Chesterfield near the accident scene say, they use those train tracks as a short cut everyday, never expecting a tragedy to happen.

Since Joshua's death, there's been a huge outpouring of support from his friends.

So, his family is holding a vigil Monday evening at 7pm near the train tracks at Strathmore and Dundas roads. They're asking the public to bring flowers, roses and candles in memory of Joshua Franklin.

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A man died after being struck by a train in Chesterfield County Friday night.

It happened about 9:30 p.m. on the tracks near the Defense Supply Center. Investigators say the victim was walking beside those tracks when he was hit by a train traveling south.

The man was pronounced dead at the scene. His identity is being withheld under his family has been notified.

Police are conducting an investigation.