At a memorial in St. Paul for a 14-year-old who loved gaming, there’s a framed graphic of a video game controller and also the words, “Just 5 More Minutes.”
It’s what most kids playing video games ask their parents, but also what Kevin Reitmeier’s family wishes they had with him.
“I’d give anything for five more minutes with my nephew,” Jameel Marshall said Thursday.
At a growing memorial for Reitmeier, who died in a motorized scooter crash Tuesday, his family remembered the teen and also called for more safety at the West Side intersection.
Reitmeier was going into his freshman year at St. Paul’s Humboldt High School. “He loved life, was very energetic, loved his family and friends, loved God,” said aunt Reese Marshall.
He was adventurous and enjoyed being in nature. He had told his mother he wanted to live in the woods when he grew up, said grandmother Angela Tucker.
Safety at intersection ‘should have been addressed,’ grandma says
On Tuesday at about 8:50 a.m., police Reitmeier was operating a gasoline-powdered scooter. A 13-year-old, who Reitmeier’s family said was a friend of his, was the passenger. The scooter struck the front of a pickup truck at Ohio and George streets, police have said.
Preliminary information indicated the scooter was being operated in the street, ran a stop sign before the crash, and that neither of the teens wore helmets, police have said.
Police have said the pickup driver did not show signs of impairment and is cooperating with the investigation.
Reitmeier, who lived in the area, was pronounced dead at the hospital. His 13-year-old friend was in critical but stable condition as of Wednesday morning, according to police.
The intersection is controlled by stop signs at all four corners. Grandmother Stacy Schminkey said there’s a problem with people not stopping at the intersection “and this should have been addressed.”
“I’ve seen the comments online and … they’re blaming” Reitmeier, Schminkey said. “… Don’t put the blame on him when you have grown people who are licensed, passed the test, and they’re not stopping. Then, you’ve got a kid and what’s he going to do? Follow the example of what everyone else is doing.”
When the family starts to heal, Schminkey said she’s wants to push for traffic lights at the intersection.
The city has already been intending to resurface George Street this year, according to the Public Works Department. The plan does not call for traffic lights at George and Ohio streets, though pedestrian and crossing improvements are intended for the intersection.
“Bumpouts (or curb extensions) will be added on the south side of the street to improve visibility of people crossing George Street, reduce the crossing distance for people walking, and slow drivers by narrowing the street. There will also be bumpouts into Ohio where possible,” according to a Public Works website.
‘Wish this day wasn’t true’
Handwritten notes to Reitmeier have been left at his memorial: “I wish this day wasn’t true,” one said. “Hug your dad extra tight for us,” said another note (Reitmeier’s father died in 2018).
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At Reitmeier’s memorial, in addition to the gaming references, there are stuffed animals and balloons in his favorite color of green, flowers and plants because he enjoyed gardening with his mother and picking flowers for her, a Bible for his faith, and his favorite soda and chips — root beer and Funyuns.
Reitmeier was “fearless,” said uncle Jameel Marshall. “He never let anything stop him from achieving a goal.”
He loved fireworks — “the kid was a firework himself” — and he enjoyed the Fourth of July, Marshall said.
“Kevin was the light of all our worlds,” his uncle said.