It was a typical Thursday morning at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, as students began their day and headed off to classes. Though, no one expected the unfortunate events that would unfold that day.
At approximately 9:05 a.m. on Sept. 19, a truck moving east on the 1700 block of West University Avenue attempted to turn left onto West Simcoe Street when it crashed with a motorcyclist, who was traveling west on the 1700 block of West University Avenue, detailed the press releases from Lafayette Police Department. The driver of the truck was cited for failure to yield left during the turn.
Karson Scott Estilette, a freshman from the university, was transported to Ochsner Lafayette General Medical Center under critical conditions and passed away the following morning on Sept. 20, due to the nature of his injuries.
Karson’s funeral was held on Sept. 26 at the Melancon Funeral Home in Carencro, LA. His tragic death affected many at the university but at the same time, followed a mass of support and love for him.
He was the son of Cody Estilette (father) and Tina Estilette (mother) and big brother to Paislee Estilette (sister).
Family and friends, along with his high school principals, took the time to speak with The Vermilion about the everlasting legacy he left. Cody Estilette, his father, said, “Karson, he was one of a kind. He would give the shirt off his back. He was not about himself at all. He was a hard worker.”
The 18-year-old began at UL Lafayette in August, majoring in mechanical engineering. He graduated high school from David Thibodaux STEM Magnet Academy (DTSMA) in Lafayette, LA with aspirations to continue university later on in Florida and become an aerospace engineer.
Alexander Melton, director of District Progress and Compliance for LPSS and previous principal of DTSMA, shared, though not knowing him too well, “What I knew of him was that he was a good, smart kid who was in the engineering pathway. He challenged himself by taking advanced courses like DE and AP. More often than that, Karson was laughing about something he or someone else did. He had a great disposition,” Melton said.
Sherri Livesay, principal of DTSMA, stated, “Karson graduated with my daughter from DTSMA in May. He was always the kindest, sweetest student. You could tell he genuinely cared for humanity through his daily interactions with his peers and teachers.”
Karson touched a plethora of lives, as he always had a genuine interest and love for others. After the death of a classmate last year in October from suicide, Karson compiled a website dedicated to his classmate, who he hardly knew. He attempted to bring about a system of counseling, in which students can reach out to upperclassmen with subjects they felt reluctant to speak about with, per say, their parents or teachers, in hopes of helping prevent future occurrences.
“He wrote this three page long intent of what he felt would help try to prevent something like this in the future. It came back, they were unable to do anything. But that was just his nature, was to try to solve and figure things out, and how to help anybody at any time.”
Anisen Thibodeaux, a freshman mechanical engineering major and Karson’s closest friend, recollected of his most fond times with Karson.
Thibodeaux has known Karson since their first grade year at J. Wallace James Elementary School. Although their paths separated when going off to middle and high school, they were able to stay in touch due to living down the street from one another.
“Karson was really goofy. Most people when they grow, they mature in a way that they lose that silliness in them, but Karson never really lost that. The last time he was at my house, which was not that long ago, he caught my microwave on fire trying to make popcorn,” Thibodeaux said.
“We were very close friends since we were about 6 years old. We used to go camping together a lot, that’s for the most part where we would hang out, since we didn’t go to the same school.”
“He was the type of person where you may not see him for two, three, four months, but then when you did see him, it’s like y’all never left,” Thibodeaux shared.
Karson Henry, a freshman mechanical engineering major at LA Tech and friend, stated, “I would probably say the best memories I have with Karson are going on vacation with his family. One was to a campground with them and a bunch of their friends and the other was earlier this year when we went to Broken Bow, Oklahoma.”
“I am forever grateful for being able to go on these trips, and for the time the vacations allowed me to spend with Karson, from late nights staying up talking and eating food and playing games, most especially the long deep talks we would have, either in a hot tub somewhere, on the golf cart or wherever it may have been, our talks were always the best,” Henry said.
“That little guy was such a little goober and an absolute blast to be around.”
Brenden Ardoin, a freshman engineering technology and management major and friend, met Karson in sixth grade in physical education class. “He was always around and always in a good mood. It was hard NOT to be friends with him.”
“My most fond memories of him are definitely the sleepovers at his house. I would be at his house multiple times a week. Whether it was just going sit for a little while or going to see him when we both got off work, I was there. We would always find something to laugh at, something to do, and Karson always made that fun,” Ardoin said.
Abigail Dugas, a sophomore mathematics major and friend, has known Karson for eight years, since fifth grade of elementary school and graduated high school together this past May.
“We sat next to each other in our fifth grade class because he came right after me in alphabetical order. We didn’t become close friends until middle school though. In middle school, we rode the same bus and were in most classes together, so we talked a lot more and became closer friends,” Dugas elaborated.
“Karson was known for sleeping through most of his classes. Every morning, he would walk into calc with an energy drink. Not but 10 minutes later, he was sleeping. Our engineering class was probably the only one he hardly ever slept through.”
Despite him sometimes dozing off in class, no one quite understood how he always received exceptional grades in school. “We were taking a course to get drone certified, and our teacher, Mr. Hansen, had a few drones that he would allow us to fly around the classroom. Karson always took advantage of them and would fly them all the time.”
“Karson was also a big workaholic. He had an auto detailing business called ‘Dress to Impress’ and worked at Tokyo and Crawfish Hole in Carencro. When he wasn’t busy, he was usually riding his Grom,” Dugas said.
The Grom, better known as Karson’s bright blue motorcycle, which he bought towards the end of June, meant the world to him. “His motorcycle, he loved that bike. Since the end of June to his crash, he had put about 6,500 miles on it,” Thibodeaux shared.
“There would be days when he would call me, and I would ask him where he was, and he’d be like, ‘I don’t know,’ because he would just drive in one direction for an hour and a half and end up in some random town with a population of 200 people.”
During his days off, he would ride for hours on end to the most arbitrary places but always ended back home. As Karson would say, “I didn’t know where I would end up, but I knew I would never get lost.”
On the day of his accident, Karson decided to go home after his morning class in hopes of returning later in the afternoon. “A lot of times on Tuesdays and Thursdays, he had about a three-hour break in between classes. Most of the time, he would go to the Union and work on stuff. He had talked to Anisen’s girlfriend just before he got on the bike and left. He was saying he was going to go home and relax before coming to his afternoon class. He made a mile and a half maybe from here, when the accident took place,” his father noted.
On the day of his passing, Ochsner Lafayette General Medical Center held a hero walk at the hospital in honor of Karson, who was an organ donor. His heart, liver and kidneys were able to save four lives, of which the heart’s recipient was a young boy. According to his father, Karson signed up to be an organ donor when he first registered his motorcycle at the DMV in June. When his father asked why he chose to become an organ donor, he recalled Karson replying, “What am I going to do with it? It’s not going to do me any good, but I can save someone else’s life.”
The Louisiana Organ Procurement Agency (LOPA) held a tribute walk on Nov. 3 honoring multiple organ donors, including Karson, for the lives they were able to save. The 5K walk through the woods was held in Carencro, LA with multiple teams dedicated to each donor and nearly 500 participants registered.
Karson’s father said that it is “another way to commemorate him and keep his memory in line with something we plan on partaking from here on out.” The Estilette family plans on establishing a non-profit organization, “Love Like Karson” (LLK), in his memory. The organization aims to further illuminate the everloving character Karson brought to those around him to the community, in tribute to the impact that he left.
Karson’s father, mother, along with four of his friends, also got tattoos on their arms of his name, date of birth and date of death, matching his exact handwriting. “One of my biggest fears with this whole thing was forgetting him, or just not thinking about him enough, which I don’t think would ever happen, but knowing that I have something like this permanent…,” Thibodeaux said, will help be a constant reminder each day of all he was.
Working nearly three jobs, Karson would often return home later in the evenings. “It was probably around 10:30 when he’d get home from work, he’d go into the restroom, and that’s when we’d say the concert would start. He’d go into the shower with the radio on his phone blaring, and he’d be singing in there, taking another 30 minutes,” Karson’s father remarked.
“Every single night, when he walked in at 10:30, the first thing he did was come into our bedroom and ask ‘how was your day?’ and then tell us about his day. We’d talk for a little bit and then it was a hug and kiss for mom and then walk around the bed to dad’s side and hug and kiss goodnight, every single night.”
In the not too distant past, during the final beach trip the family went on together, Karson desperately wanted to go parasailing. “I didn’t want to go, but he wanted to go, so I’m going to go with him,” his father said.
“The whole time we were in the air together, we were just talking about life, his plans and everything else…it was nice to have that time.”
“It was maybe 10 minutes in the air, we had a lot of conversations, and it was all about the future. That’s what he loved to talk about,” Cody Estilette concluded.
Karson’s 19th birthday will be this coming Saturday, Nov. 9, in which family and friends planned to do a bonfire and cookout at their house. His birthday will continue to be celebrated as previously planned, in his never fading remembrance. “He was like a brother to me. His family is like my family, his sister is like my sister, and losing him was very hard,” Thibodeaux concluded.
Karson Estilette was universally known as a tremendously kind, caring and loyal young man. He worked hard for what he had, whether it was at his jobs, education or friends and family.
His funeral gathered nearly 720 visitors, which included not only his family and friends but coaches and lunch ladies from high school, students and professors from UL Lafayette as well as other members of the community.
He left an unwavering mark on any person he interacted with, for his kindness, goofiness, help and advice made almost anyone’s day. Karson genuinely cared for humanity and effortlessly loved, not only those he knew but even those he did not.
His legacy will forever reflect his ambition, humor, intellect and most of all, empathy that will inspire others from generations to come to “Love Like Karson.”
For any member of the UL Lafayette community needing help, the university’s Counseling & Testing Center offers professional support at O.K. Allen Hall, Mondays through Thursdays, 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Fridays, 7:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
