Family, friends remember teenager killed in Columbia police chase

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The mother of a Hallsville teenager killed in a crash early Friday called him a "loving young man who made a stupid mistake."

Hayden Holt, 17, died when his vehicle crashed into a utility pole during a chance involving police.

Holt's mother, Kari Hallowell, described her son as loving.

"I will say that he was a very loving young man who made a stupid mistake which took him from us," Holt's mother, Kari Hallowell, said. "Hayden was and will always be my baby boy."

ABC 17 News also spoke with Holt's girlfriend Tyeshia Hipkins.

"Hayden was the most loving kind-hearted person that (I) knew," Hipkins said.

She said Holt enjoyed cars and playing football. Together, they fished and played video games. She said Holt and his grandpa shared a passion for older cars.

"He loved his family, he talked about them all of (the) time and spent every second he could with them," she said.

Holt attended Centralia High School from October 2017 to February 2018. Hipkins said he graduated early from Hallsville.

She said he had plans to attend college to study information technology.

The chase, which started in downtown Columbia and continued on Interstate 70 before ending on Providence Road, started when Holt ran a red light, the Columbia Police Department said. Police said Holt also hit several parked vehicles during the chase.