Davidson Teen Eamon Leary, 16, Killed After Hough High School Classmate Allegedly Drove Drunk on Shearer Road

The town of Davidson, North Carolina, is mourning the loss of Eamon Mason Leary, a 16-year-old sophomore at Hough High School who was killed in the early morning hours of June 6, 2026.

According to court records and Davidson Police Department reports, Eamon was a passenger in a white pickup truck being driven by another teenager, Tristan Lehman, along Shearer Road near the West Branch Nature Preserve.

A witness described the truck driving recklessly and tailgating before losing control and overturning into several trees. Eamon was ejected from the vehicle and was pronounced dead at the scene despite CPR efforts by police and Davidson firefighters. He was just 16 years old, born October 6, 2009, and had barely crossed the midpoint of high school.

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Lehman, also a minor from Cornelius, was charged with felony death by vehicle, underage drinking and driving, and reckless driving. He was booked into Mecklenburg County Jail and later released on a $100,000 bond.

The charges reflect what a witness account and court affidavit described as a senseless, preventable tragedy unfolding in the middle of the night on a quiet stretch of road.

More Than an Athlete, More Than a Teammate

Those who knew Eamon remember far more than the circumstances of his death. His obituary paints the picture of a kid who lit up every room. A junior varsity soccer player, he also loved golf, fishing, and the outdoors.

He was, by every account, the kind of teenager who made people feel welcome. Friends described his humor as quick and infectious, his loyalty as genuine and steady. He had built, in just 16 years, what his family called a beautiful community of people who loved him deeply.

He is survived by his parents, Kerri Fitzgerald and Jonathan Leary, his sister Logan, and a wide circle of grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins who are now left to carry his memory forward. That memory will also live on among the teammates, classmates, and friends at Hough High School who are navigating grief at an age when few expect to face it.

Visitation for Eamon was held Thursday evening, June 11, at Raymer-Kepner Funeral Home in Huntersville, with a celebration of life scheduled for Friday, June 12, at Grace Covenant Church in Cornelius. In the days since his death, the online guestbook drew thousands of visitors, a quiet testament to the reach of one young life.

Drunk driving among teenagers is not an abstraction. It is a 16-year-old boy lying lifeless in the roadway on a Saturday morning while his friends crawl out of an overturned truck. It is a family preparing a funeral instead of summer plans.

Eamon Leary deserved more years, more games, more fishing trips. The least we can do is remember his name and demand better of ourselves and each other.