Pearl-Cohn football player Taurus Turrentine Jr. dies in car wreck, coach confirms

Taurus Turrentine Jr. died in a car wreck on Tuesday night, a news release from the Metro Nashville Police Department said. He was 18.

Turrentine was a football player at Pearl-Cohn High School who recently signed a college scholarship with Lindsey Wilson, according to his coach Tony Brunetti.

Brunetti released a statement through a Metro Nashville Public Schools spokesperson on Wednesday morning.

“Taurus Turrentine was a (6-foot), 285-pound teddy bear who was simultaneously one of the strongest kids on the Pearl-Cohn Firebirds football team," Brunetti said in the statement.

Joe Stanford of D1 Training West Nashville got to know Turrentine when the Pearl-Cohn football team began training with D1.

"While Taurus was nasty on the field and played with an attitude, he was a gentle giant off it," Stanford said. "He was never not smiling and always lightened the mood.

"He was a constant jokester that loved being around his teammates."

Turrentine was an all-district defensive tackle who played four years at Pearl-Cohn and was a starter for the last three years, according to the statement.

"His teachers, coaches and classmates described him as generous and kind who brought the light to the classroom," Brunetti said. "Our hearts are with his family as we join them in mourning the loss of this wonderful and talented young man.”

MNPS spokesperson Sean Braisted said student support services are on campus at Pearl-Cohn to provide counseling for students and staff in the wake of Turrentine's death.

How the wreck unfolded

Turrentine was a passenger in a Chevrolet Equinox traveling west on Due West Avenue when it swerved off the road and crashed into a tree, MNPD said.

The driver, a 17-year-old, told officers they saw headlights in front of them and thought a vehicle was coming into their lane. Neither the driver nor Turrentine were wearing seatbelts, MNPD said.

The 17-year-old was arrested for driving without a license or insurance.

Find reporter Rachel Wegner at rawegner@tennessean.com or on Twitter @rachelannwegner.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Taurus Turrentine Jr. dies in Nashville car wreck, police say