Band director recalls student killed in crash as a ‘cool,’ talented musician

After a crash claimed the life of a Lakewood Ranch High School band member, classmates and the school’s band director came together to remember a young life lost.

Dashwood Payen, a senior, died Wednesday night in a single-vehicle crash on River Heritage Boulevard, according to a Florida Highway Patrol crash report.

Lakewood Ranch High School band instructor Ron Lambert learned of Payen’s passing Thursday morning. He cried during his planning period but by the time students started coming into class, Lambert said he started crying again.

“As soon as kids walked into the room I was a mess all over again. It was hard, not being able to control my emotions like that,” Lambert said. “I have two kids of my own, but in 14 years of teaching here at Lakewood Ranch, I have hundreds of kids. It’s hard to lose one.”

Payen was one of Lambert’s students for four years, playing in the wind symphony and jazz band. He wrote an emotional tribute to the student he said was “born to play the trumpet,” on Facebook.

Around 10:24 p.m. Wednesday, Payen, 17, of Bradenton, was driving a 2006 Toyota Camry northbound on River Heritage Boulevard near the intersection with Montauk Point Crossing, where there is a curve to the right, according to FHP.

Payen failed to navigate the curve and the vehicle went off the road, hitting a curb and rolling over twice, FHP reported. The car stopped on some bushes on the west shoulder of the road.

Payen was taken to Blake Medical Center, where he later died from his injuries, according to FHP. Troopers noted in their report that there were no skid marks on the road, but that there was debris on and off the street.

For Lambert and his band students, class was different Thursday morning.

“All the kids looked up to him because he was very cool,” Lambert said. “He was very confident.”

Thursday morning, Lambert said students sat and talked about Payen, recalling things that made him laugh and what were now their last memories of their classmate.

“Everyone was here for each other,” Lambert said, adding some students even came from other classes and stayed in the band room most of the day. “That’s how we dealt with it, laughing at things that made him laugh.”

He recalled Payen’s strong sense of caring for his family, saying there were “many times” Payen would leave as soon as rehearsal was over to care for his younger siblings.

In his senior year, Payen was principal trumpet and was preparing solos for upcoming Music Performance Assessments. The band will still go to the assessments and will continue with a planned concert next week. Lambert says the students want to do well in honor of their classmate.

“The kids said to me how important it was for them to play great for him, so that’s what we’re going to do,” Lambert said.

This story was originally published March 1, 2018 at 6:47 AM with the headline "Band director recalls student killed in crash as a ‘cool,’ talented musician."