Austen Christian was 19-years-old when he met his fate. The former Garden Grove All-County football player was killed in an auto accident on Saturday, April 30, 2016.
The incident occurred near a local school. Christian’s car hit a brick wall and telephone pole in a single-vehicle accident that took place around 1:40 a.m. Austen was the only person in the car.
“I’ve known him since he was a little kid, so it’s been tough,” the teen’s former coach, Ricardo Cepeda, told the press shortly after the incident took place. “Good kid. He was getting in shape to play this year, has been working hard. [He] took a year off to get a little bigger but it’s pretty disheartening here at school today.”
Christian was a wide receiver/cornerback who stood out from his high school peers. The teen was selected as Garden Grove’s MVP in 2014 and was a second-team All-County pick the same year. Austen helped his team capture a CIF-SS Southern Division title before graduating last year. The teen’s sister presently attends Garden Grove High School where she plays softball.
“He was a great young man who did work hard,” said Kevin Emerson of Orange Coast College. Christian was working with the coach to return to the football field after failing to qualify last fall. “We will miss him,” Kevin concluded.
