Glenbard West football player dies

A Glenbard West High School student and star football player died Thursday of injuries he received in a car crash last week.

Staffers consoled students mourning the loss of classmate Pierre Washington-Steel, a 17-year-old senior who last fall helped lead the Hilltoppers' football team to the state's Class 7A championship game.

Pierre was popular with teammates, but also got along well with all types of students at the Glen Ellyn school, Principal Jane Thorsen recalled.

"He was very sincere and very genuine," said Thorsen. "Kids really liked him. He had a real concern for other students."

Pierre and another Glenbard West student, DeMarco Whitley, were critically injured on Jan. 29 when their car ran off Swift Road near St. Charles Road and slammed into a utility pole, authorities said.

Both teens had to be extricated from the wreckage, according to DuPage County sheriff's police, who said Pierre was driving when the 7:45 p.m. crash occurred.

DeMarco, a 17-year-old junior who also was a running back on the football team, remained Thursday in serious condition at Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove.

The cause of the crash remains under investigation, sheriff's police said.

Pierre transferred to Glenbard West last fall after the closure of his former school, Driscoll Catholic High School, where he played football, baseball and ran track.

Thorsen remembered meeting the teen for the first time when she welcomed him to the school shortly after he arrived.

"He looked me right in the eye, shook my hand and said he was so glad to be here," Thorsen said, recalling that Pierre had "a beautiful smile that lit up the room."

His family couldn't be reached Thursday for comment.

Pierre and DeMarco helped take the Hilltoppers last year to the title game in Class 7A, where Glenbard West lost to Wheaton Warrenville South.

Counselors will be on duty at Glenbard West again today to offer support to grieving students -- who last weekend quickly organized a candlelight vigil for the Pierre and DeMarco. The solemn ceremony drew at least 500 students, family members and friends, said Thorsen, who expects students will continue to support each other as they come to terms with their grief.

"Families have to support each other," she said.