IN THE PIPELINE:

“He made me smile when he walked in the room,” his mom says quietly. “He made everything brighter, more wonderful —,” and her voice starts to crack.

His dad says his son was “The gentle dinosaur — a big, strong, lovable kid who was a natural leader.”

Kristi and Paul Oates are telling me about their son, Danny, the 14-year-old who was killed late last summer while riding his bike to pick up his eighth-grade schedule at Isaac L. Sowers Middle School. The accident happened at the northeast corner of Indianapolis Avenue and Everglades Lane.

As gut-wrenching as this episode has been for the family, on Friday the tragedy enters a new phase. As you may have read, recently the Orange County district attorney filed two felony charges of vehicular manslaughter and driving under the influence against Jeffrey F. Woods, the 20-year-old Huntington Beach man who killed Danny by crashing his truck into him, according to police.

Additionally, the charges against Woods also include “gross negligence while intoxicated.” The affidavit filed by Huntington Beach police detectives in Orange County Superior Court also include the charge that Woods had attempted to obtain drugs during a three-day period (including the day of the crash), and that Woods was possibly even under the influence of an opiate at the moment of the crash.

Court documents also included bombshell information that Woods actually may have been text-messaging just one minute before, or at the exact same time of the crash — communicating about what appeared to be an ongoing drug deal. Woods, who has yet to be taken into custody, is to be arraigned Friday. Will the parents be in court? “Absolutely,” Paul Oates said. “For Danny, we have to be there.’”

Recently, this column has detailed (and will continue to detail) the ongoing investigation into the death of Dane Williams, the 23-year-old local who was mysteriously found dead in San Diego. That two local families would suffer such unspeakable losses inside a year is something that should give all of us pause. Innocent young men, innocent families, both locked in tortuous circumstances they did nothing to deserve. It is sickening.

The charges against Woods also state he had been driving too closely to other cars when he made a sudden swerving motion, ending up on the wrong side of the road. I remember the video on TV that night — the truck appeared to have exploded through the wall where Oates was struck. How fast was he going?

Paul Oates doesn’t know. But he does know the police have been extremely meticulous about piecing the charges together, and he’s confident justice will prevail.

“[Woods] murdered my son. Period. He deserves to be in jail,” he said.

Adding insult to catastrophic injury is that the Oates family, save for a card and small bouquet the day of the accident, have yet to hear anything of substance from the Woods family. No phone call, no apology, and no offer of remorse. Nothing. (Efforts to contact the Woods family for this column were unsuccessful.)

“As a man, as a father, I expected there to be some outreach,” Paul Oates says. “Something. We raise our kids to be responsible, to stand up for your actions — that’s just how Danny was. He’d be the first kid to take responsibility if messing around went too far. He was also the kid who always stood by a buddy, always tended to anyone who might be hurt. I know how we are as a family. You expect other people to do the right thing. But it doesn’t always happen.”

A junior lifeguard, standout athlete, good student — you just look at photos of Danny and see he was a bit wise beyond his years — an old soul that all the kids admired, especially the younger ones, brother, Troy, 12, sister, Alexis, 8, and all of the cousins (seven boys).

Kristi Oates explains that as the first born within the extended family, Danny was the one everyone followed and looked up to — the leader of the pack.

“He affected so many people every single day, and we’ve all been robbed. His siblings, my mother, Paul and I — totally robbed of seeing what he would grow into, the things he would do in life — robbed of the pleasure of watching how wonderful he’d be with everyone. We are all completely shattered. And for what?”

For someone charged with “gross negligence while intoxicated.” Someone who may have been drug-deal-texting as he careened out of control, according to police.

This was so preventable, disgustingly so, that it’s hard not to get angry.

“The trial will be hard for us, “ Kristi Oates said. “Horrible for the kids because they’ll have to relive everything. I wish responsibility could just be taken so we could avoid what’s about to happen. I know it’s our system, I know all’s fair, I just wish our family did not have to go through this. It will be a huge distraction from the healing that we’re trying to encourage.”

Wakeup calls abound in this case — about safe driving, about substance abuse, about common sense and common courtesy.

But for now, what’s at hand as the Oates family enters this next phase is that we, as a community, do what we can for them.

Kristi Oates said, “It really helps when people reach out and offer their thoughts and prayers. They’re like little pillows propped up around us that help us get by.”

CHRIS EPTING is the author of 11 books including. You can write him at [email protected].