A local family is mourning a 16-year-old boy who died in a rollover crash Friday night on Interstate 25.

Joseph Doñez, who lived in Security and attended Ellicott High, was pronounced dead at Memorial Hospital, where he was flown by helicopter after his pickup was hit head-on by an SUV on I-25 near the Security exit.

Doñez was driving south on the highway and had to veer into the median to avoid a crash in front of him, the Colorado State Patrol reported. His truck rolled over several times, ending up in the northbound lanes of the highway, where it was hit by the SUV.

His organs were donated for transplant, his aunt, Monica Vallejos, of Colorado Springs, said.

“We’re all so amazed at all of the other lives he’s saving and helping even after his death,” she said.

She described Doñez as an energetic and outgoing teenager who had a big heart.

“He was always willing to help everybody,” she said.

 She said he loved the outdoors and sports, especially football.

“They’re pretty devastated,” she said of his parents and siblings. “It’s just hard to believe that he’s gone. It’s just amazing how one moment can change everyone’s lives.”

Doñez is survived by his parents, Steve and Josephine Doñez, sisters Victoria, Celestina and Graciela Doñez and brother Isaac Muniz.

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