Crash kills Sahuarita High student, injures 3

Officials said Tuesday that Elizabeth "Beth" Brakke, 16; Angelica Fredrickson, 16; Brittany Jaeger, 15; and Angelica Vindiola, 17, had all decided to leave school and get fast food for lunch when the crash occurred just before 1 p.m. at the Sahuarita Road exit.

Brakke was killed in the crash. Jaeger and Fredrickson were in serious condition and Vindiola was listed in critical condition Wednesday morning. All were at University Medical Center.

Sunnyside and Marana Unified school districts provided Sahuarita High about 15 crisis counselors on Wednesday, said Ninette Moreno, the principal's secretary at the high school.

Brakke's mother also has set up a scholarship fund in her daughter's name, she said.

Memorial service plans were pending Wednesday morning, she said.

Brakke was driving her 1988 Honda Civic north when she failed to negotiate a turn and veered from the offramp, said Officer Quent Mehr, a spokesman for the Arizona Department of Public Safety. The car went into the desert, became airborne over a wash and struck a bank of the wash head-on.

Brakke and Jaeger — who was sitting in the right rear passenger seat — were not wearing seat belts, Mehr said.

Fredrickson, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, was wearing her seat belt, Mehr said. It is not known if Vindiola was restrained.

The girls, all juniors, had taken the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery test at school in the morning. They left for lunch and were on their way back to campus when the crash occurred, said Shanel Mitchell, a 16-year-old junior at Sahuarita High.

"I was going to go with them, but I just had a bad feeling so I didn't," Mitchell said as she stood in the waiting room at UMC Tuesday night.

Brakke was a student athletic trainer at the school and also played soccer, Mitchell said.