Savanna Churchil Obituary – When Savanna Churchill was killed as she waited for someone to fix a flat tire, there were plenty of news stories about the crime. It’s not often someone admits to swerving into someone intentionally for no apparent reason. That mug shot, her family said Wednesday, was the wrong picture. Not wrong because it’s not the man charged with her murder, but wrong because it is Savanna’s picture people need to see and Savanna’s story they need to hear.
On Wednesday, three months to the day after her death, Savanna’s friends and family gathered at MO 291 and Ruth Ewing Road for a heartfelt remembrance. They laid flowers underneath large cardboard letters spelling her name. Mylar balloons with the words “Happy Birthday!” bobbed overhead. It would have been her 21st birthday. It’s not how anyone had planned to celebrate it.
“She wanted to go to clubs,” said her sister, Felicity Steines. “She wanted to dance.”A co-worker from Walmart remembered her dancing to cheer people up when they were having a bad day. “If you weren’t OK, she was going to make sure you were going to be okay,” said Savanna’s best friend, Lexie Graves.
Multiple people described that caring spirit in different ways. “She found the humor and the light in everything that I couldn’t,” said her other sister, Zada Churchill.“Her passion for life was definitely helping people, said Savanna’s mom, Jodi Fechtelkotter. She wanted to go to medical school. She completed her associate degree and had been accepted to Rockhurst University’s pre-med program. Her first day was set for Aug. 23. She was killed on Aug. 22.
She was standing outside her car on the side of S. La Frenz Road just beyond where it intersects with Ruth Ewing Road. She was waiting for help to change a flat tire. It was 2:30 in the afternoon. The man now charged with first-degree murder in her death told police he intentionally swerved into her. He’d never met her.
Savanna’s friends and family assembled the birthday display a mile away at the highway intersection so more people could see her beaming face.They sang Happy Birthday through tears, hands held tight and voices cracked. They hoped she could hear them.
“I’m proud of you,” Savanna’s father, Kevin Churchill said.
“I love you so much,” said Graves. “And we will always make sure that your name is out and you are remembered.” The state ordered a mental health exam of the man accused of killing her. Earlier this month, the examiner found him competent to stand trial. His defense team still has the opportunity to argue otherwise at a competency hearing. The next hearing is scheduled for Dec. 19.