Illinois teen dies singing choir solo

A talented Illinois teenager was rehearsing a solo at a school choir event when he suddenly collapsed and died, his family said.

Daniel Moshi, 17, was performing at the All-State Honors Show Choir for the Illinois American Choral Directors Association (IL-ACDA) at Naperville North High School on Friday evening when he became unconscious, NBC Chicago reported.

“I got the call from his teacher, musical teacher. And she said there’s an incident,” father Loden Moshi told the outlet.

“That he was singing his solo rehearsal and he collapsed. And now they’ve given him CPR and taken him to one hospital.”

Naperville officials later confirmed that they responded to reports of an unconscious teen at the school around 6:18 p.m. Bystanders were already performing CPR when first responders arrived.

Moshi was then transferred to Edwards Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

A senior at Leyden High School District 212 in Franklin Park, Moshi hoped to attend college next year and one day perform on Broadway.

His mother, Karolin Moshi, said everything seemed normal when she dropped her son off at school early on Friday.

“Actually, I stopped by Starbucks right over here, where he grabbed his macchiato drink and his sandwich. I dropped him off. And he was waiting for his teacher to come, you know, come up and pick him up with his other students that were attending this choir show,” she told NBC Chicago.

The DuPage County Coroner’s Office is investigating the incident, but no cause of death has been released.

“We came home Saturday morning, I received a call from the DuPage coroner’s office and she said, ‘Miss Moshi, I’m reaching out to you to let you know that there was nothing wrong with your son. His organs were all healthy, his heart – absolutely nothing wrong with him,’” Karolin Moshi said.

The family, who wore Moshi’s favorite color blue for their interview, described the late singer as “honest, so pure, lovable.” They said they are relying on their faith to see them through this devastating time.

“It’s hard. It’s not easy. You can see my eyes. I’ve been crying,” Karolin Moshi said.

“I can’t sleep. I haven’t slept since Friday. But it’s… I don’t know how to explain it… we believe what we believe in. The Lord is keeping us going. It’s not easy. We were supposed to buy him a car. We’re actually doing his funeral. It’s not easy. It’s not easy for any parent to go through this because we still don’t have answers.”

“He was amazing,” Moshi’s younger sister Dayna said of her brother. “And I feel like people should know that more…If people have siblings, you need to have fun with them. Because if one of them goes away, you feel alone.”

IL-ACDA President Laura Coster said that the organization was “saddened by the loss of this beautiful person who loved to sing.”

“Our condolences to his family, the students, the directors, and to…students in the Leyden district,” she wrote on Facebook.

Leyden High School also spoke out about the tragedy, with a spokesperson telling NBC Chicago that “this loss impacts out entire…community.”

“Our students and staff are grieving and our focus is on their well being. We encourage anyone who is struggling to reach out to a trusted adult and our Student Services department is available to provide support. We are also asking everyone to look after each other during this difficult time.”