Logan crash: Cohn Evans’ mum breaks silence over motocross rider’s death in horror crash south of Brisbane
A grieving mother who lost her son in a car accident has been unable to come to terms with the tragedy and is still holding on to his final words for him.
Professional motocross rider Cohn Evans, 22, was killed when the car he was riding left the road and crashed into a tree near Logan, south of Brisbane, on November 30 last year.
The other two men in the car were also injured, including the driver, Joshua Jordan John Boyton, who was later charged with a number of serious offences.
Cohn would have celebrated his 23rd birthday on Thursday.
Eleven months later, his mom Dolly Evans still ritually turns on the porch light every night, in code of their last conversation.
As he was leaving to get into Boyton’s car, she said she would cook spaghetti for them to share when he returned.
Dolly Evans (left) still replays in her head the last conversation she had with son Cohn (right)
‘I’ll be home for dinner’ were Cohn’s last words to his mother.
Dolly Evans (left) still turns on the porch light for her son (right) every night
Normally he would walk in the door around 5:30 p.m. 5:30pm came… 6:00pm came – I tried texting him, he didn’t respond… then we got a very unusual text message saying “Heard about Cohn’s accident – I don’t know if you want talk… if you’re ready to talk,” Mrs. Evans told him Courier mail.
At first she thought the person was referring to Cohn’s motocross accident a few months ago and texted him to say he was “doing fine.”
She finally realized something was terribly wrong when the person replied, “I think we’re talking about another accident.”
By the time she and her husband Jason discovered their son had just been in an accident and drove 10 miles to the scene, Cohn was already dead.
“We didn’t know where we were going, but I knew it was bad because he wouldn’t answer the phone … I just kept blacking and blacking,” she recalled.
A good Samaritan held Cohn’s hand for two hours until his parents arrived, who stayed at the crash site in the freezing rain until 2 a.m. processing what had happened.
Dolly Evans described her son Cohn as ‘full of life’ who always saw the best in everyone
Cohn Evans was a professional motocross rider before his life was tragically cut short
Boyton was charged with dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing death, driving an uninsured vehicle on the road, driving a defective vehicle, driving a modified vehicle that fails to comply and fail to stop at an incident and fail to give assistance.
Police allege in court documents Boyton made ‘engine modifications’ to the car and that he did not make a ‘reasonable attempt’ to contact emergency services after the crash
The personal trainer remains free on bail and will appear at Beenleigh Magistrates’ Court next week.
Ms Evans said she and husband Jason are trying to come to terms that someone who was living at risk for his own life could die in innocuous circumstances: “He killed us, he was with people he assumed were his friends.”
“We always knew what our sport could do, Cohn had lost friends killed in motocross, friends paralyzed by motocross … I think Cohn would have preferred it this way,” Ms Evans said.
“I know if the shoe was on the other foot — if it was my son driving the car — he would have stayed the course … he would have called an ambulance, he would have gotten in front of those parents.
Cohn Evans (pictured) was sitting in the back seat when the car he was traveling in allegedly lost control and crashed into a tree.
Cohn’s death last November prompted an outpouring of tributes. In the photo are the flowers left by friends at the accident site
Mrs Evans described her son as “full of life” and a positive character who always saw the best in everyone.
He was also a homebody who didn’t celebrate his birthday with friends until he was 18 and was a father figure to his two young grandchildren whom he adored.
Cohn grew up with dreams of following in the tire tracks of his father, who was also a motocrosser.
“(Cohn) was our backup plan, we weren’t going to a nursing home, he was going to take care of us,” Ms Evans said.
“He was a midwife’s son – he came home every night – I still wait for him … every night … the light comes on and I wait and wait.”
Cohn’s death prompted an outpouring of tributes at the time with dozens of friends attending a vigil at the crash site.
Cohn Evans (pictured) should have celebrated his 23rd birthday on Thursday
The night before the crash, close friend Renee Speare was comforting Cohn, who had endured a ‘tough week’.
“If I had known it was the last time I would see you, I would never have let it go,” she wrote after his death.
‘You’ve always had my back. If someone said a bad word about me, you were there protecting me, you told me if anything ever happened, you would make sure the boys took care of me.
“It breaks my heart to know this won’t happen again, you were honestly such a blessing in my life Cohn, and I’m so glad I got to spend your last weekend here with you.
“I know you will look down on me and I will continue to make you proud and make an absolute mess of you because all you ever wanted was for me to be happy.”
Another friend added: “You were honestly such an amazing person and will be missed so much words can’t describe the person you were not only to me but to everyone! You were always so happy and we sure will miss you! Don’t forget to party hard out there until we meet again, I love you so much.’
Cohn (left) was holidaying in far north Queensland with friends three weeks before he died
(tagsTranslate) daily mail(s) news(s) Brisbane