Fels High teen struck and killed

It had been a big day for Madina Sem: The pretty, well-liked Fels High student had just completed her senior project on art therapy to rave reviews.

"She did an unbelievable job - she was one of the best presenters they had," said Eileen Coutts, her principal. "She got her pin, 'I survived the senior project.' "

Sem, 18, left school Tuesday and boarded a bus for her home in Olney. When she got off the bus at Second Street and West Olney Avenue, a car ran up onto the sidewalk and struck and killed her.

She was a gifted artist and college-bound student who forged close relationships with students and staff, said Coutts, and Sem's loss was deeply felt Wednesday at Fels.

"She was a beautiful young lady, really lovely," the principal said. "She was a very cheerful person, very strong-willed. She reached out to some other kids and helped them through some troubled times."

Her popularity was made clear by the more than 200 relatives, friends, and classmates who gathered for a tearful candlelight vigil Wednesday night at the accident scene.

Sem, of the 5800 block of Philip Street, was one of eight sisters born to Cambodian immigrants, said one of her sisters, Sambon Sem, 24.

Her parents have since divorced, and her father returned to Cambodia, but he may be coming back to the United States because of his daughter's death, Sambon said.

Madina had borrowed a business outfit from her older sister for her senior-project presentation. "She couldn't stop talking about it, how nervous she was, how excited she was," Sambon said.

About 4 p.m., Madina got off the bus on Olney Avenue at Second Street and had just rounded the corner north on Second when she was struck by an out-of-control car.

As she lay bleeding on the sidewalk, another sister, Melina Sem, 19, ran to the scene, Sambon said. Madina was crying and asking what had happened to her.

Police said Sem was hit by a car that had been struck by another vehicle at the intersection. She suffered multiple fractures and head trauma, police said.

At Albert Einstein Medical Center, a doctor told her family that she needed immediate surgery to reduce brain swelling and that she might have a chance to survive, Sambon said.

"Around 10," she said, "the doctor came and told us she didn't make it."

Both motorists were taken to Einstein for treatment of minor injuries. Police are investigating, but no charges had been filed.

As counselors and other school staff comforted some students, one young man stopped in Coutts' office to talk about Sem.

"He said she had really helped him through a hard time," Coutts said. "She stopped him from contemplating suicide."

In her office, Coutts said, were two of Sem's artworks. One, a 3-D drawing, would be framed and given to her family, she said.

Two of Sem's sisters are Fels graduates, and a younger sister is in 10th grade at the Northeast school.

Even as they grieved, teens rallied to help the family with funeral expenses. On Friday, they will hold a dress-down day where students make a contribution in exchange for wearing nonuniform clothes.

Next week, they will hold a bake sale. All of the money will go to the family.

Coutts said the school was reaching out especially to the many students who had been on the bus with Sem moments before she was struck.

"It was just a horrific thing," the principal said. "It's really devastating."