A year on, Porras family continues to mourn son killed in Colorado car crash

Dec. 8—MITCHELL — For some families, writing a yearly Christmas letter is a tradition, informing friends and extended relatives about their ups and downs of the year. For many children, writing letters to Santa Claus is a must as the beloved holiday approaches.

But the Porras family of Mitchell took the time this year to write a letter of a different sort, one they hated writing but felt they must. It was addressed as a letter to the editor to the Mitchell Republic and written in memory of their son, Nicholas "Nick" Tagg,

who died almost a year ago in a car crash in Colorado.

In it, they implored readers to remember to fasten their seat belts as they travel this holiday season.

"Our son, Nicholas Tagg, passed away earlier this year in a motor vehicle accident just minutes away from his home. Had he been wearing his seat belt, he would probably be here today. Instead, we are left to grieve him and figure out how to go on in this life without him. We will have an empty seat at our table this Christmas. Don't make your family go through what our family is going through," read part of the letter, which is signed by Shelli and Lou Porras.

It was a message his family wanted to extend in memory of their son, whom they described as funny, smart, dedicated, loving, sometimes troubled but very loyal, all in loving terms.

They also described him as being missed. Very missed.

"Nick, you should be here for this. You should be here for this," Shelli Porras told the Mitchell Republic in a recent interview. "So many times in the past year I've had to say that."

Nick was killed Jan. 7, 2023, at the age of 31 in an early morning two-vehicle crash just a stone's throw away from his home in Arvada, Colorado. He struck another vehicle from behind and a concrete barrier. The impact of the collision ruptured his aorta, causing him to die before the ambulance could reach the crash site.

Later that morning, a pair of officers with the Mitchell Police Division came calling at the Porras residence in Mitchell. Shelli answered the door and received the worst news a parent could possibly fathom.

Her son was gone.

"I collapsed in a chair. I grabbed his picture and said this is him. This is Nick. I had to call (Lou) at work and told him he had to come home, Nick was gone. The police are here and he's gone," Shelli said.

Nick's family remembers him as a balance of mischief, humor, empathy and perseverance.

He disliked school but was highly intelligent and a decent student, graduating from Mitchell's Second Chance High School a semester early. He was a jokester who could make his friends and family laugh while at the same time harboring feelings of depression that had his family concerned about suicide. He could find trouble but was thoughtful and served as a kind friend as well as a loving son, sibling and uncle to his beloved nieces.

And fearless.

"He was not afraid of anything," Shelli said.

That was proven true when he enlisted in the U.S. Army in 2011 and became an Airborne Ranger, showing the bravery needed to fight for his country and jump out of airplanes. He showed more bravery after he was injured in a training exercise, causing him to lose much of the feeling in his left leg.

Lou is Nick's stepfather and helped raise Nick and his siblings after Shelli's former husband, William Tagg, Sr. died of cancer. He has been married to Shelli for 25 years, both being Texas natives who gradually migrated north before circumstances brought them and their respective families together. They consider themselves a combined family that is also divided thanks to internal factions that root for both the Dallas Cowboys and Miami Dolphins.

When Nick became interested in soccer, Lou, who brought his Texas-sized football obsession with him to South Dakota, stepped in as a coach despite little experience with the sport. They also enjoyed getting together for rounds of disc golf.

Lou said he also admired Nick for his desire to enter the service for his country.

"I was proud of what he did. I was in the military myself," Lou said.

Shelli and Lou remember the period following his injury as a tough time for Nick. He struggled to receive benefits from the Veterans Administration and went through a divorce, losing some of his life's roadmap but soldiering on as best he could. Eventually, he reinvented himself as an entrepreneur in the cannabis industry in Colorado, where he worked with several companies, doing everything from working as a CEO to handling shipping duties.

He also enrolled at the University of Colorado at Denver, where he studied business, acquiring skills he planned to use in the burgeoning new business sector.

Through it all, he remained connected with his family, showing up for surprise Christmas celebrations and Shelli and Lou's 50th birthday parties. He and his brother Zach were particular purveyors of holiday cheer, donning Santa hats and passing out gifts.

Kelsey Thomas, Nick's sister, remembered him always ready to get someone to crack a smile.

"Nick was funny. He was always the jokester. He was always making people laugh and he was very kind," Thomas said. "He loved with his whole heart and he loved everybody. And everybody loved him right back. He was fun and he was crazy."

Nick had a special relationship with his nieces Kenleigh Tagg, Rowan Tagg, Josephine Thomas and Eloise Thomas. Shelli said the four always looked forward to visits from their uncle Nick, who had no children of his own, his Christmas gifts and the special group photo the five of them would take together around the holidays.

"Those four girls were his world. Every year we took a family picture and those four girls had an uncle Nick picture and looked forward to presents from uncle Nick," Shelli said. "We are a very close family, even when we're far apart, we were very close."

Shelli still gets calls from his friends, some from his time in the military and some from other areas of his life. After he died, she learned more about how much Nick meant to people outside the family. He is often cited as someone his friends could talk to, lending an empathetic ear and support to their problems.

Friends told her Nick would often offer them sage advice.

"He taught them how to have respect for women. He helped other people when they couldn't help themselves. People still call me or text me, some call and cry," Shelli said. "They all call me 'mama'. They'll tell me a story about him that I don't know, or one they already told me and I act like I haven't heard it 10 times. It's hard."

Lou agreed.

"He gave so many life lessons to people he was with. That's just who he was. He gave that to everybody," Lou said.

Earlier this year, the family traveled to Denver to accept Nick's diploma from the University of Colorado at Denver. An auditorium full of fresh graduates applauded at the announcement of Nick's name, and the school embraced the family with flowers, a reception and a combination of condolences on Nick's death and congratulations on his posthumous graduation.

"His school was so great. They treated us so well. It was their idea to let us accept his diploma posthumously, and they took such good care of us," Shelli said. "The auditorium was full, and all those people were standing and applauding for Nick. It was too much for me to take in."

It will soon be a year since Nick died in that car crash in Colorado, but the family's mourning will extend for a lifetime, Shelli said. The family plans to travel to Texas for Christmas this year, as she said she can't bear to be in the warmly decorated house with such stark memories of Nick and better times still fresh in her mind.

But they remain active in keeping his memory alive. One way Shelli has done that is to lobby for a sign memorializing Nick, similar to the "Think!" signs seen in South Dakota, to be put up near the site of the crash in Colorado.

Thanks to therapy sessions, Shelli has become more expressive about reaching out to others about her grief. Nick's fight with the Veterans Administration over his earned benefits remains a point of frustration for the family, and she knows other veterans are going through the same red tape that can come with government bureaucracy. That prompted her to reach out to Rep. Dusty Johnson to point out the shortcomings of the administration.

It's also the reason she and Lou wrote that letter to the Mitchell Republic, urging people to remember to buckle their seat belts, especially during the busy holiday travel season, even if they are not traveling far and even if they are close to home. Shelli and Lou both understand that it's often overlooked by drivers, both of them having neglected in the past to buckle up themselves.

But they have no doubt that if Nick had been wearing a seat belt, he would likely be walking through the door again soon, arriving unannounced for another surprise Christmas visit.

"Had he been wearing a seat belt, he would have survived," Lou said. "He would have had injuries, but he would be with us today."

In just the last week, three people have been killed in Mitchell-area crashes.

Megan Rollag, a 17-year-old high school senior from Freeman was killed in a one-vehicle crash just outside her hometown. Investigators say she was not wearing a seat belt.

A 24-year-old male, whose name has not yet been released by authorities, was killed in a crash with a highway maintainer near Mount Vernon on Wednesday. Investigators say he was not wearing a seat belt.

Harlan Miller, a 63-year-old from Mitchell, was also recently killed in a two-vehicle crash south of Mitchell. Investigators are still trying to determine if he was wearing a seat belt, though his passenger, who survived the crash, was wearing one.

The Porras family knows the pain the victims' families are going through. They don't want anyone feeling that. That's why they wanted to share Nick's story. That's why they wrote that letter to the editor.

Nick will be on the family's mind as they head down to Texas for a dose of warmer weather and Cowboys football this Christmas. Nick's brother, Zach, plans to print tiny pictures of Nick and leave them stickered around AT&T Stadium in Arlington, where the Cowboys play their home games. It's a gesture that probably would have made Nick smile, just like he made others smile when they needed it.

Shelli hopes sharing Nick's story will help save a life. That's the legacy she and her family will carry for Nick into the future.

"Those are my goals — for people to not forget him and to help somebody else. I believe everything happens for a reason. When their dad passed away I said it has to be for a reason, maybe to help some other lady going through this," Shelli said. "And I felt the same way when Nick passed. This has to be for a reason. So if we can help somebody else, that's what we want to do."

The Porras family's full letter to the editor can be read below.

To the editor:

With the holiday season upon us, many of us will be traveling to parties, school concerts and family get-togethers. We would like to take just a minute to remind everyone to please buckle your seat belts every time you get in the car. Whether you're a driver or passenger, traveling close to home or far away, this simple act could save your life. Our son, Nicholas Tagg, passed away earlier this year in a motor vehicle accident just minutes away from his home. Had he been wearing his seat belt, he would probably be here today. Instead, we are left to grieve him and figure out how to go on in this life without him. We will have an empty seat at our table this Christmas. Don't make your family go through what our family is going through.

Shelli and Lou Porras

Mitchell