Update: Brothers laid to rest this week following train accident

CANTON, Mich. — Stafford resident Terrence Harris, 21, will be laid to rest this week along with his brother Sean Harris, 19, a resident of Detroit, Mich.

According to the Detroit News and Free Press, funeral services for the brothers will be held at North Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit on Thursday at 11:30 a.m. A visitation was held Wednesday.

The Harris brothers were among five that were tragically killed in Canton Township, Mich., when their car was struck by an Amtrak passenger train.

Authorities said Terrence Harris was in Detroit visiting family, including his brother Sean, who recently graduated from high school. Police confirmed that both brothers died in the crash on July 9 as well as the driver Dan Broughton, 19; Jessica Sadler, 14; and Eddie Gross, 18.

According to police, Broughton skirted a lowered railroad crossing gate without stopping to check for the oncoming train. The vehicle was struck on the tracks about 20 miles outside of Detroit, killing all inside. Police said that the Amtrak train was traveling within the speed limit and that no one aboard was injured.

Muriam Payne, 36, of Detroit, mother of Sean and Terrence Harris, told the Detroit Free Press that Terrence was employed at the Taco Bell restaurant on Garrisonville Road in Stafford.

Payne said she started getting phone calls from her sons’ friends telling her about the accident. She said she didn't believe it until police officially notified her about at about 6 p.m. that day.

“They were best friends,” Payne said of her sons.

Taco Bell’s General Manager Jamie Peterson said of Terrence Harris:

“I can say he was very offbeat, always inquisitive; not only about life but also about God. I can say he was a strong and good person and it is very very hard to find or say anything wrong, because over here, he was always happy.”

— Media General News Service/Staff and Wire Reports