WREG.com

3 dead near Michigan country music festival were school pals

Amy Satterthwaite, the mother of Richie Mays Jr., gets a hug as family and friends gather to remember Kole Sova, Dawson Brown and Mays at the home of Jerry and Meeka Sova near Jackson, Mich., Sunday, July 18, 2021. The three young men, all recent Michigan Center High School graduates, were found dead likely from carbon monoxide exposure in a camper on July 17 at the Faster Horses Festival at Michigan International Speedway. (J. Scott Park/MLive.com/Jackson Citizen Patriot via AP)

BROOKLYN, Mich. (AP) — Three young men who likely died from carbon monoxide exposure while camping near a country music festival in Michigan were pals who played high school football together.

Friends and family identified them as Dawson Brown and Richie Mays Jr., both 20 years old, and 19-year-old Kole Sova. Police say the deaths Saturday probably were caused by carbon monoxide from a generator that was too close to their travel trailer.


They were graduates of Michigan Center High School in Michigan Center and were at a campground while attending the Faster Horses Festival at Michigan International Speedway, 80 miles west of Detroit. Two more friends were being treated at a hospital.

Separately, state police were investigating the death of a 30-year-old woman at the festival.