Family members recall life of Brookfield cheerleader

By Ed Runyan

‘Everybody was LeLe’s friend,’ the girl’s mother said.

BROOKFIELD — Alessa Norris was known as “LeLe” to those who knew her — and that included just about everyone connected with Brookfield schools.

A girl who became a cheerleader at age 3, the 16-year-old loved to cheer and shared that enthusiasm with everyone, family members said Wednesday.

The high school junior died Sunday night in a single-car accident on U.S. Route 62 in Hubbard Township.

“Everybody was LeLe’s friend. It didn’t matter who you were,” said her mother, Denise Davidson of Mineral Ridge.

Alessa (pronounced A-Lisa), one of three Norris children living with their grandmother, Jean Kinloch, on state Route 7 in Brookfield, was a member of the Brookfield High School Varsity cheerleading squad.

On Sunday, the day she died, she had written in a planner that she was going to take steps to enroll in nursing school, said her sister, Alyssa Norris, 19.

“She was very lovable. She was friends with everyone,” her mother said, explaining that nursing would have suited her well.

“She said, ‘Grandma, I’ll be the first black Brookfield homecoming queen,’ and I said, ‘You probably will’ because everybody loved her,” Kinloch said.

“She knew it was going to happen,” her sister said.

Alessa was confident in her abilities as a cheerleader. She cheered loud and was a leader on the squad, family members said.

Alessa, her sister and brother, Paul Davis, 12, a seventh-grader at Brookfield, lived in Brookfield about four years, having relocated from Niles.

The Ohio State Highway Patrol said Alessa was in the passenger seat of a car driven by a friend, Joshua Thompson, 18, of Masury.

The vehicle slid off the divided highway into the median and hit a metal pole at about 11:15 p.m. Alessa was pronounced dead at the scene. Thompson was treated at a hospital and released Tuesday. He also attends Brookfield High School.

Investigators said the accident occurred at a time when the road was wet and snowy. So far, it is not known how fast the vehicle was traveling. The investigation into that is ongoing, said Sgt. Jeff Klem of the patrol’s Warren post.

Investigators are also awaiting results of tests to determine whether alcohol was involved in the accident. Neither Alessa or Thompson were wearing seat belts.

Calling hours for Alessa will be 4 to 8 p.m. today at Lane Funeral Homes, Madasz Chapel. The funeral will be Friday at Oakwood Cemetery in Hermitage, Pa.

runyan@vindy.com