A 19-year-old who died after he was hit by a car late Tuesday was remembered by friends as a kind and caring person who planned on soon joining the Marines.

Derick Cantrell died early Wednesday after he was hit Tuesday while crossing the street at the intersection of Maizeland Road and Academy Boulevard just after 11 p.m. Police say a 2006 Saturn Ion was headed north on Academy and had a green light through the intersection at the time of the crash.

Cantrell’s friends and family plan to hold a vigil for him at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Maizeland and Academy. People attending are asked to wear green, his favorite color.

Natashia Gebrezion said she has known Cantrell for six years. They went to school together until he moved to Oklahoma for his last few years in high school. He moved back to Colorado Springs to go to college, but then decided to join the Marines instead. He was scheduled to leave for boot camp Dec. 10, she said.

“He said the Marines are the toughest,” Gebrezion said. “He talked about how good they were and he said he wanted to be one of the toughest of all of them. Also, a lot of his family members were Marines and he wanted to continue that tradition.”

She said Cantrell was also a long-distance runner who ran at least three miles a day, but often times more than 20 in a stretch. In preparations for the Marines, he worked out with a group three times a week, she said.

He also loved acting and was a cast member of a Web series she started called “Finding Princess Charming,” which is scheduled to start in November.

They filmed on Tuesday morning and Cantrell told her that he was going bowling that evening. She doesn’t know why Cantrell was in the street when he was hit.

Derick Cantrell Photo by