And Why it Matters….

Last week was the seventh anniversary of the death of Nicholas “Nick” Covelli. He died at age 22, shot to death in the middle of the night on dark Piru Way in Frazier Park. A Kern County Sheriff’s deputy pulled the trigger. He said he was startled by the young man’s unexpected appearance and actions.

This week, Covelli’s father writes about his son, and about the family’s ongoing search to learn what happened in the last hours of February 8, 2003 to put their son on the street that night, dazed and freezing, calling out for help.

To the Mountain Communities:

This past February 9, 2010, marked the seventh anniversary of the loss of our son.

We think of him every day. As time goes by, we hold on to memories of how unique and very talented he was.

Nicholas Patrick Covelli was born on October 8, 1980, in a suburb of Chicago, Illinois. The youngest of Anthony and Patricia Covelli’s three children by 10 full years, Nicholas’ childhood resembled that of the family mascot.

He loved to play baseball and played in the organized leagues in our town from those first days of T-ball until he was 15 or 16 years old. At that point, his love of movies was developing. He began to delve into the art of filmmaking.

After a reluctant march through the public high school, Nicholas graduated in 1999. He always mentioned proudly he was in the last class of the century. He had an innate interest in history.

Nick looked forward to the challenge of higher education and enhancing his writing talents. He attended a community college and took additional correspondence courses from Indiana University to fill in the academic gaps, then enrolled at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale as a sophomore. They have a wonderful film school, and Nick wanted to pursue his interest in the arts, mainly filmmaking, but also drawing, poetry and music. Once he was there, he concentrated on filmmaking and impressed the professors with his unique style and perspective. He was lauded for several short films he produced for his classes.

Our son wrote many personal journals and yearned to create a manuscript or a screenplay for a film. The school awarded him a posthumous certificate of recognition, based on his contributions to the classes he attended. We were awestruck and proud.

In 2000 Nick took his girlfriend to Egypt on the proceeds he earned from selling a website URL that he created and registered, known as Groovetown.com. A music publishing company purchased the rights. It was an exciting endeavor for him, and an exciting trip.

He saw California as the Fertile Crescent for his hungry thoughts, and his family helped him move to Frazier Park in August 2002, two months before his 22nd birthday. Nicholas believed he had gained the freedom to pursue his endeavors, but he died tragically six months later on February 9, 2003.

We can only dream of what Nick may have accomplished if he was not taken so tragically at such a young age.

We continue the search for answers and for the reasons he is gone. They are there in Frazier Park. We hope by giving you a little history of our son, that it may prompt someone, anyone with information, to come forward.

—The Covelli Family
(708) 807-1405, Access Code 27

This is part of the February 19, 2010 online edition of The Mountain Enterprise.

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