THE PARIS NEWS, Feb. 20, 2008, By Bill Hankins: “One-car accident results in fatality - A North Lamar High School senior, Tyler James Thompson, 17, died late Tuesday in a one-car accident just west of Paris. Thompson was alone in a 2005 Chevrolet pickup. Department of Public Safety officer Thomas Curry said Thompson’s vehicle veered off the roadway shortly before 9 p.m., struck a culvert, went airborne and rolled several times. Thompson was ejected from the vehicle and pinned beneath it. Thompson was pronounced dead at the scene by Justice of the Peace Tim Risinger at 9:15 p.m. DPS trooper Greg Wilson assisted in the investigation and said Thompson was not wearing a seatbelt. The accident happened 1.9 miles west of Paris on FM 1499. North Lamar High School principal Paul Allen said counselors will be made available at the school for students who may need them, along with several area ministers who will be on campus to talk to students. ‘We are letting our kids do what they need to do to get through this, and our thoughts and prayers are with his family,’ Allen said. ‘Many of the kids were aware of the tragedy last night, and the others learned about it when they arrived at school today.’”
THE PARIS NEWS, Feb. 21, 2008: “Tyler James Thompson, 17, of the Caviness community, passed from this life unexpectedly on Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2008. Starrett Funeral Home conducts a service in honor of his life at 3:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 22, in the gymnasium of North Lamar High School with the Rev. Brad Crosswhite officiating. Interment follows in Mount Tabor Cemetery. The family receives friends from 6 to 7 p.m. Thursday at the funeral home. He was born May 25 1990, in Paris, the son of James Brandon and Ginger Thompson. He was a senior at North Lamar High School, where he was an active leader on the golf team. He was ranked 11th in his class at North Lamar, but he graduated ahead of the rest and now enjoys the presence of God and those friends and family whom he loved who have gone on before him. He was an avid hunter and fisherman, and loved the outdoors. He was a member of the Lamar Point Baptist Church. He was preceded in death by his paternal grandfather, James Edward Thompson in 1996 and his maternal grandfather, Harry James Thompson, in 1969 and his good friend, Will Buster in 2000. He leaves behind his loving parents, Brandon and Ginger Thompson; his sister, Kelsey Jae Thompson; and two loving grandmothers, Ireta Thompson and Mary Thompson, both of Powderly. Named to serve as pallbearers are Jay Cox, Tanner Clemons, Jessy Durham, Chris ‘Vandy’ Vanderburg, Jeremy Slagle, Joel Cannon, ‘Ti-Ti’ Tyler Oakes, Seth Little, Blake Leonard, and Chris Day. Honorary pallbearers are his friends and Chase Frazier, Andrew Crosswhite, Corey Woods, Russell Hays, Josh Arnold, Ryan Leflore and members of the North Lamar Golf Team. If friends so desire, the family requests contributions may be made in Tyler’s memory to the North Lamar Education Foundation, 3201 Lewis Lane, Paris, TX 75462. Friends may register in Tyler’s Book of Memory at www.starrettfunerals.com.”