By Paul Huggins
DAILY Staff Writer
phuggins@decaturdaily.com
340-2395

Lauren Lamy tried to convince her two teenage friends to wait till they got home to eat.

Christina Lipka of Harvest and Courtney Craig of Athens and two male friends went to find a restaurant anyway, but they never made it.

At about 1 a.m. on Saturday, Lipka's car went off the road on Wall-Triana Highway in Madison and struck a tree, killing both 16-year-old girls. The two male passengers riding in the back seat, Raymond Wilburn of Harvest and Ivan DeJesus Ibarra of Huntsville were injured and flown by helicopter to Huntsville Hospital.

Courtesy Photo Courtney Craig, left, and Christina Lipka, both sophomores at East Limestone High School, enjoyed making home movies and keeping friends entertained.

"I was telling them not to and everything like that. 'Let's just stay here and when we get back home, then we'll get something to eat.' But they didn't listen because they're hardheaded, but it's OK because I still love them," said Lamy, 15, who was friends with the victims for three years.

It was easy to love them because they were so full of love themselves, Lamy said Saturday afternoon as 20 to 30 friends gathered to console each other at Lipka's house in Harvest.

"They were just gorgeous girls, beautiful inside and out," she said. "They loved telling jokes and being with each other, going to everybody's house and raiding their kitchen. They just liked being with everybody, hanging out and having a good time, just being teenagers."

Friends had gathered at Wilburn's house Friday night, when the four left to get some food, Lamy said. Their car left the road near McKee Road. State troopers said the cause of the accident remains under investigation. None wore seat belts, troopers said.

Lamy said her understanding is that Craig was ejected and killed instantly, and that Lipka also was killed instantly when Wilburn's body slammed into her back.

Expected to recover

Of the two boys, Wilburn was the most severely injured after he got caught in the windshield.

Both are expected to recover, and Wilburn was to have surgery today.

Limestone Chapel Funeral Home will handle arrangements for Lipka and Craig.

Both girls were 10th-graders at East Limestone High School. Lipka played volleyball and Craig played softball.

Lipka and Craig also were adept at making home movies and photography, Lamy said.

"They loved imitating movies," she said. "Chrissie, she wanted to be a talk-show host. And Courtney, she just wanted the fame.

"Chrissie was a class clown. If she wasn't heard, then she wasn't there. Courtney was quiet at school, but once she got out of school, she was a nut. You can't get rid of her and you don't want to get rid of her, she's so funny," Lamy said.

Phone was a gift

Craig's mother, Mary Baugher, said she gave her daughter her main Christmas present, a cellular telephone, a few days ago.

"Now I'm glad we did because we went shopping together and bought that," she said.

Baugher described her daughter as a typical teenager and that being with friends was her top priority.

"It took her two hours to get ready everyday and all her clothes had to be immaculate. That was kind of her little thing," she said.

"She was just a busy little girl who was trying to find her way," Baugher said. "When you'd say, 'Well, Courtney, we really need to get serious about some things,' she'd say, 'Well, you know, I just want to be young and enjoy my time."