oh my [Applause] [Music] God [Applause] [Music] good evening I'm Dan Rather at the end of each school year millions of high school students celebrate the end of one chapter of their lives and the beginning of a new one they celebrate this on their graduation day the graduating class of 2005 students everywhere are filled with hopes and dreams for a bright future tonight we will look at the story of four childhood friends whose typical graduation day turned out to be anything but meet 17-year-old Kelly Garner like most teenagers he likes hanging out with friends and going to the movies Kelly plans on attending the University of Southern California in the fall to study film produ tion in his spare time he likes to shoot movies of his friends with his own personal video camera what happened on June 6th well it was our graduation day and I uh I wanted to document it so I started filming everything to happened starting in the morning that morning using himself and his best friends as his subjects Kelly began filming 2 hours and 30 minutes I will officially be out of high school what's up College here I come he would videotape everything from putting on his cap and gown to the party at the end of the night clean this up a little bit look I'm try to keep all this stuff together Mom I'm I'm trying to film please okay all right clean what was it you were trying to capture honestly I I I didn't really know I just wanted to make something we'd all remember and remember it they would during the ceremony Cali sat next to his close friend Sophie Davis it has us an opportunity to learn to explore and to grow in a healthier as each of us truly no limit to what we can achieve student and your class president Mr J mat years has been spent anticipating the mix so for today let's enjoy this because before you know it it'll all be over God bless Last Chance the students laugh as Kelly's other best friend Ben Chase heckles Jake on stage because tomorrow we're going to wake up and no longer be high school students so shut up so guys let's make today the best day of her High School career so good so good that was awesome why is your hat oh godu you the graduating class of 2005 we it here we see Sophie Davis Kelly's childhood friend and Jake's girlfriend for over two years a straight A student on her way to Yale Sophie has a lot to be celebrating let's go back to graduation date tell me about the ceremony uh uh it was beautiful everyone looked really nice in their gowns um and Jake's speech how did he do he was great um I think he did really well it went well the entire time Ben was yelling at him from the audience which didn't help but that's Ben Ben Chase is fellow classmate and longtime friend of the group he and Jake played on the varsity football and baseball teams together when Mike's party never I don't even know yeah baby class yeah hey you on the lens man heyo we going to Mike's party tonight or what oh dude for sure after the ceremony Kelly would take his camera around joking with the principal and talking to friends and family Principal Brown Principal Brown what what did you think of Jake speech it was excellent I just have to touch it I'm sorry I'm sorry you got to get a good shot right here Mr Brown a lot of time in my office it's because this kid right here it wasn't my fault I'm an athlete I got out of everything hey Dad what's going on Mr M what did you think of your son's spe ship off the old block CU going to be president of the United States one day I wouldn't go that far but Mom Kelly I'm so proud of you D I'm proud of you you are yeah cuz I want you to play for my college did you like the speech I cried it was very nice you did it great you cry it really did I'm there she is Christy and Sophie sitting in a tree talking about clothes what are you guys doing we talking about clothes like you just said how did I know all they do is talk about clothes they're weird yeah can we go Jake bye bye I love you chy I'll see you tonight okay in a rare moment we see Kelly our cameraman when one of his friends takes the camera and turns it on him come on man all right why don't you say something clever for a change so you blow Logan oh come on thanks man clever have a good clever I'll see you at no I probably won't later Kelly steals a moment with his longtime friend Sophie thought you and Jake left no I'm still waiting on Mr popular over there swear that kid talks more than the chck oh is that so you should have tell him you said that then yeah yeah yeah yeah you would yes I will dude I'm just joking I swear it actually has a bunch ah now it's fogged it up are you kidding thank you no thank you for being so hot uh have you seen Jake ground after joking about her boyfriend Jake they began discussing what all kids seem to be thinking about on this day their future can't believe it's all over what do you mean like high school you know it's all over like it's done uh well tonight's not done cuz you know what we're going to do tonight what we're a party what's up yeah that's what we're doing we're partying baby yeah yeah but then what um let me tell you then it'll be tomorrow and then all of a sudden it'll be August and then we'll all go away to school and that'll be that yeah yeah but I mean what do you have to worry about I mean you and Jake are fine so you don't have to worry about that or anything else can you stop filming for two seconds please really Kellie like Jake's my best friend and not being able to see him every day is going to be weird you know hey ready to go what took you so long friend to ks brother um you know we're just talking about some frat stuff frat stuff You' be into the whole like fraternity scene Jake the frat boy I Haven really thought about it but maybe fun go get her D she's mad I just don't really see oh are you get are you oh is my little s I'm not mad are you mad I'm not mad there's there there's nothing to worry about I'm not mad there's nothing okay that freaking camera off all right all right turn it off later that night Kelly would go pick up his best friends Jake and Sophie on his way to their graduation party it would be the beginning of a night they would never [Music] forget all right so we're at Jake's house and we're going to pick him up and we're going to go to this little party and we're going to get some girls you know so what we're going to do hello yo Jake time to party Y where are you hey what up y you're not naked right all right yeah dude Kelly and Jake have been friends for almost almost 13 years growing up only blocks away from each other I got to fix my hair my my name's Jake I got to fix my hair I have to look good for the ladies what took you so long I had to get ready dude Sophie looks so hot in this picture wow which one uh that one dude she's right here that's a picture of your mom see look there's you as a baby right there and that's your dad yeah why don't you go get ready man shut up man D you didn't win all these trophies I did I don't know dude Mr athlete let's go dude seriously it's party time man let me see I'm going to do a little situation for you Britney is right there let's see you do your fly magic onor all right let's see it did you did you really just just lick lick your finger and touch your eyebrow you stop man yo Ben Ben what's up homie BR what's up baby come here give me some sugar give me some sugar get away from me you creep I'm sorry right she probably say something worse than that here that was too nice want to do it again no that so what are you guys trying to do here uh I was uh I was showing Jake how to pick up girls what did it work no after joking around the two leave for the party but listen carefully as they do give me the camera we're leaving we're leaving get my hat we're going and uh guess what you're driving why cuz I'm going to get up oh yeah I one too yeah in that line there what did you say I said you're driving because I'm going to get messed up and what does Jake say he says yeah drinking too on their way to the party they pick up Jake's girlfriend Sophie no D I'm serious it's not here oh here we are pulling up at Sophie's house all right H all right dude ringing the doorbell Kelly waiting in the car decides to do somewhat of a colorful commentary on what he sees he oh Hey Jake come on in maybe you can hang out oh no I think I'm going to stay out here just I'll just wait for Sophie you know Sophie wasn't dating you I probably dat you you're so my typ a hey baby what's up girl hey I know so if your your boyfriend is really hot I would do him hey that's my main man right there call me later so I can come and hit on some 18-year-old girls and uh give him a little graduation present you know what I'm talking about I know you do oh give me a hug you're so sweet all right I love you all right hey be sure you call me Jake look how cute the couple is you guys ready to geted up I'm sorry I'm sorry you want front seat you playing drums for oh this is going to be insane let's go so we're here walking up to the party walking up to Mikey's house we got four cigs up in this best friend third grade where's my [Applause] class vomos vomos now tell me about the party it was like really any other party people were hanging out drinking having fun you guys drank a lot um no I not a lot but um it's high school and kids drink and at a party it's basically a given so not a lot no but on occasion what up ladies want make out so drunk she's going nowhere who is this over here in the midst of the chaos Kelly captures a tender moment between Jak s oh that's my boy you what's going on over here the partying would continue as Jake and his friends played a game known as beer pong take shot Jake Ben and even Sophie take shot after shot cheered on by their classmates got take a shot now God damn [Applause] right here right [Applause] [Applause] here guys are done they're done and about how many drinks do you think you had that night about five or six Spears couple shots and what about Ben and Jake oh man they they had a lot more than I did that's for sure Kelly Garner weighs about 160 lb Jake and Ben about 180 each over the course of 4 hours if each drank between five and eight beers and had 3 to six 1 o shots of hard liquor their blood alcohol content would be somewhere between .24 and 28 that's three times the legal driving limit of 0.08 for someone over the age of 21 keep in mind that at point three most people lose Consciousness and at point four most people become comos and may die yes I was just going to say three words don't worry about got wiped out dude wa all you party mother shut up they even have trouble remembering where they parked and which car is [Applause] theirs no no the car is this way guys Geniuses you're going the wrong way dude Chase is not our car I'm starving I'm fine dudine no I'm I'm fine I'm fine no how did you guys decide who was going to drive um well well I thought Jake was the least drunk and it was his car so and Jake pretty much always drove was he okay to drive no oh my God so hard to get in look at look at Ben dude you're about to throw aren't you dude Ben yes yes I'm driving no what are you laughing at what are you laughing you're drunk ass got God okay you put the key in the knob and you turn oh fudge bye you get any numbers tonight K everywhere you almost hit that range fine you almost hit that range oh oh oh my God we are officially high school graduates yeah what's up turn this no no d i can I can't see you dude dude ridiculous that is like the definition of a ridiculous should be fine yo Chase what you think of the party you really want to know what I thought about the party did you see that guy that awesome baby God I'm drunk so loud dude yo chase you all right over here man oh he looks fine wait the one time where Ben Chase doesn't say one word oh my God yo Chase seriously you all right man you going to throw up Sophie eventually takes the camera because they are afraid Ben might throw up on itow yes dude here dude take the camera the camera I hooked up with a girl uhhuh and Jake tell me look at you right now look at you you're so Hey Jake can be seen aggressively passing another car I going to go around it Jesus you wait no that guy just without a care in the world they drive on they just passed this car going what 40 50 mil an hour what were you thinking at this point um I was thinking that everything was fine uh Jak seemed completely fine and this wasn't very different from any other night out really we're graduates baby hell yeah gradu graduates we graduated s s we graduated can you believe it we finally all those years all those years it took us we graduated just gave back and then in an instant Everything Changes go some what you hear now is Sophie who is trapped in the car screaming some a witness calls 911 please help me please help me please go some my God oh my [Music] [Applause] God oh my God please help him the firefighters assess the scene and then carefully pull Sophie out of the W you oh my God oh my God injuryj oh my the camera little cracked and broken somehow kept [Applause] recording Jake Matthews is pulled from the car he is not breathing Ben is put on aery alive for now but in critical [Music] condition Sophie sees the paramedics covered Jake's body my today in our studio is the first time Sophie has seen the footage from that fateful night what's it like watching this now it um it gives me the chills I I just can't believe that that happened and it's still so difficult to realize that um that they're gone it's okay I'm sorry do do you remember any of the accident no not not really um I I remember getting hit and uh it felt like a wall hit us there's glass everywhere I don't I don't really remember anything else just woke up in the [Applause] hospital eventually a police officer notices the camera and the tape finally ends what do you remember when you think about that night um I remember going to the party and we got there and then um I remember Ben jumping on Jake's back and tackling him as we were leaving the party and then and then I remember that I was looking at Jake and I was telling him that I loved [Music] him and then we got [Music] hit just hold on there for a [Music] you ever even think about this kind of thing could happen [Music] no no I never thought that it could happen to us at 1:34 a.m. on June 7th Jake's SUV sped through the intersection of 8th and Burnside in his intoxicated State he neglected to stop at a red light Jake's car was struck by another car passing through the intersection as a result of the accident Sophie Davis broke two ribs and received several deep cuts from the broken glass Kelly Garner suffered from a broken leg and a fractured collar bone Ben Chase sustained severe brain contusions he never regained Consciousness and died hours later in the hospital Jake Matthews died instantly upon [Music] impact [Music] [Music] trunk driving is not an accident every year there are over half a million alcohol rated car accidents in the United States alone that's more than five football stadiums full of people where the entire population of Washington DC Boston or Denver they get into an accident every year ask yourself if you've ever driven after having a few drinks or gotten into a car with someone who has been drinking if you answered yes you were lucky lucky you didn't get into to an accident lucky you didn't die lucky you didn't kill anyone the reality is this can happen to anyone anywhere at any time it can happen to you I know because it happened to me my name is slay Garrison and on December 2nd 2006 my life changed [Music] forever [Music] I'm holding on your rope got me 10t off the [Music] ground I'm hearing what you say but I just can't make a sound tell me that you need you going to cut me down but wait you tell me that you sorry didn't think I turn around and say it's too late to apologize it's too late said it's too late to apologize [Music] I take another chance take a fall take a shot I need you like a heart needs a be it's nothing new yeah loved you with the fire red and I it's turning blue and just say sorry like the angel heaven let me think was you but I'm [Music] afraid