OAK HARBOR, Wash. — Across Whidbey Island near Oak Harbor, stacks of flowers, candles and spray-painted tributes honor the life of 15-year-old Grace Horn.
Grace was killed in a car crash that Washington State Patrol said happened around 3:00 a.m. on Highway 20 near Libbey Road. Her friends and family said she was door-dashing to earn money to buy Christmas presents.
“There’s no end, she’d literally do anything for anyone. She’s always wanted to give things to people,” her father, Jacob Horn said.
DoorDash said Grace was using her mother’s account. The company said it requires users to verify identity periodically via a selfie that is compared to the driver’s license on file. The company reports that 100,000 dashers are required to verify each week.
“We didn’t know,” her mother Jennifer said of Grace being out. “Sometimes her huge heart clouded her judgment.”
Jacob said Grace was staying at a friend’s that night, a network of friends that seemingly grew by the day for a teenager who tried to interact with everyone.
“There would be kids that didn’t have friends at school and she would gravitate towards them and all of a sudden they’re best friends,” Jennifer said. “She found the beauty and the good in everybody and everything.”
Her love didn’t stop for people—Grace adopted a scorpion, gecko, and guinea pig. She mused with her mother about adopting a three-legged cat. One day she asked her mom to give her $30 for food for her pets.
“Then all of a sudden she walks in with this aquarium and this tarantula I’m like Grace what are you doing she had this one look, it’s like you couldn’t be mad at her because she was just so pure and all of her intentions were so pure.”
The four days since the crash have been full of heartache and tears. Friends have helped, coming by to clean and cook and distract from the emotions for a time. But the emotions keep finding their way back.
“Ever since then it just feels like we’re hollow,” Jennifer said.
“To the point where you cry and there’s no more tears, you just get a headache from crying,” Jacob said.
To Jennifer, the testament to Grace’s persona is how her older brother, Gauvin, describes her as “the most selfless person” they had ever met. More introverted than his extroverted sister, Gauvin remembers her surprising him with Taco Bell in his room or bribing him with candy to open up and talk with her.
“He’s doing okay, he’s coping the best he can as a teenage boy. He’s trying to be strong for us. He sees that we are destroyed. I can’t even think of a better word for it. So, he tries to be strong for us.”
Jennifer was awarded a Purple Heart after being injured during a mortar explosion during the War in Iraq. In tribute to her daughter’s memory and how she lived, she wants to wear her heart on her sleeve and help others.
“We’ve talked about creating a space for kids called Grace’s Place so we want to live on her legacy because that’s what she’d want us to do,” Jennifer said.
Family friends have created a GoFundMe to help the Horns with the cost of the funeral and other expenses.
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