The 11-year-old Triway student is being remembered for his music, martial arts and distinctive interests after his death in a home crash.
WOOSTER, Ohio — Family members, classmates and neighbors are remembering 11-year-old Emmet Sauers ahead of funeral services Friday, days after a pickup truck left a Wooster roadway and struck the home where he was sleeping.
Sauers was a fifth grader at Triway School whose interests ranged from the Beatles and playing trombone to martial arts, video games and vintage electronics. His death has prompted condolences across the school community and a memorial outside the Madison Avenue home where the crash occurred.
An obituary published by Matteson Funeral Home describes Sauers as a boy with a bright and memorable personality. He held an orange tip belt through the Ohio Academy of Martial Arts and enjoyed music, especially the Beatles. He played trombone and collected or used older technology, including records, VCRs and a PlayStation 3, while also enjoying newer devices such as a Nintendo Switch and Alexa.
Those personal details have become part of how the community is remembering a child whose life was abruptly interrupted. The obituary also notes some of the smaller preferences that made him distinctive to relatives and friends, including his dislike of the song “Baby Shark” and traffic lights.
The Ohio State Highway Patrol said Sauers was inside his home late Friday when a white 2007 Ford F-250 traveling northwest on State Route 302, also known as Madison Avenue, went off the eastern side of the roadway and struck the residence. Troopers were called at about 11:50 p.m. for a serious-injury crash with entrapment.
Sauers was pronounced dead at the scene. His family later said he had been asleep in his room. The patrol identified the driver as Karas M. Wedge, 18, of Seville and said she suffered minor injuries and was taken to Wooster Community Hospital. The cause of the crash remains under investigation.
Neighbor Karlyn Harbeitner told Cleveland 19 that she heard a screeching sound while watching television before the crash. In the days afterward, she spoke about the difficulty of processing the death of a child. A memorial placed in the front yard became a visible sign of the community’s grief.
Triway’s loss has also been recognized by other local school communities. Northwestern Local Schools extended sympathy to Sauers’ family and the Triway community, and people were encouraged to wear purple Tuesday as a show of support and remembrance.
Sauers was born Nov. 21, 2014, in Wooster. His obituary lists his mother, Melissa Garnes of Wooster, and his father, Jonathan Sauers of Orrville, among his surviving family members, along with grandparents and other relatives.
Visitation is scheduled from 4:30 to 6 p.m. Friday at Wooster Nazarene, 3100 Oak Hill Road in Wooster. A funeral service will begin at 6 p.m. at the church. Interment is planned for a later date at West Salem Cemetery.
As the family prepares for Friday’s services, the highway patrol’s investigation continues separately. Authorities have not announced a final cause for why the pickup left Madison Avenue before striking the home.
Author note: Last updated September 9, 2026.