INDIANAPOLIS - Calling him "a brilliant young man," Kelly Ripa spent a few moments on ABC's "Live with Kelly and Michael" Thursday morning paying tribute to an Indianapolis EMT who was killed in an ambulance crash earlier this month.

Ripa explained that Timothy McCormick, 24, was originally from Staten Island, N.Y., and was "like a family member to one of our family members here at 'Live.'"

McCormick and Cody Medley, 22, died after a Feb. 16 crash in which Jade Hammer, 21, was driving a vehicle that slammed into the ambulance.

Prosecutors are awaiting toxicology results on Hammer.

Ripa and co-host Michael Strahan said they were saddened to hear of the crash and of lives cut way too short.

"I just wanted to send thoughts and prayers to his family, because he was really one of these special people that come along once in a lifetime," Ripa said. "Although it's a loss here on Earth, I think people like him benefit all of us."

McCormick was buried in New York.