A fatal crash killed this Pouch Cove boy. His mother forgave the teen behind the wheel

The news moved through Pouch Cove like a wave. Phones pinged with text messages, recipients reading the brief article with shock and grief.

Those teens, friends and neighbours passed around a decision from police on Jan. 28 that rocked the small Newfoundland community to its core: a 17-year-old boy, who survived a fatal collision that killed teenager Travis Wheaton last summer, would be held criminally responsible for his friend's death.

"It brought everybody back to the night of July 4," said Travis's mother, Michelle Thorne, speaking at length to On The Go host Jane Adey in a recent interview.

It was the night her world turned upside down.

Travis, 16, was one of multiple high school students in a Honda Civic in the early hours of that Sunday morning. The details of the crash haven't been disclosed, but police said the car collided with an SUV on Pouch Cove's Main Road, injuring two passengers and killing Travis.

He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Seven months later, the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary announced it was laying drug-impaired and dangerous driving charges against the teen allegedly behind the wheel that night: a child already racked with guilt over Travis's death, according to Thorne.

"He has his whole life ahead of him," Thorne said, worried that the charges will prevent the teen from recovering and moving forward. "We all make mistakes."

Thorne said she's close with the accused and his family — so close that she visited him as he recovered from his injuries.

"Once we received the news that Travis wasn't coming home, our next trip was to the hospital," she said. "He was waking up with the realization that he killed his best friend because of the decisions they made that night."

On Friday, Thorne discovered the deep wound caused by her son's death had been ripped open again, this time by comments from residents online, who directed their anger at the accused — reactions she considers cruel and retraumatizing.

"Do we condemn him for life, and throw him away like garbage? Because that's where some of these comments were heading," Thorne said.

"I spent all Friday responding to those comments, trying to turn that conversation around."

Travis was always an active kid, full of energy and spunk, who loved the outdoors. He trained competitively as a gymnast, spending 20 hours a week on the mats, building his strength and fine-tuning his balance.