High school junior dies, 3 friends hurt in accident Car rolls over after failing to make curve on Interstate 19 off-ramp

SAHUARITA — A female Sahuarita High School student died Tuesday afternoon at the scene of a one-car crash at I-19 and Sahuarita Road, and three other girls were hospitalized in serious condition, officials said.

Junior Beth Brakke, 16, died at the scene, high school students were told in an announcement by Assistant Principal Stephanie Silman.

Juniors Angelica Frederikson, 16 and Brittany Jaeger , 15 were in serious condition, and Angelica Vindiola, 17, was in critical condition in the intensive care unit, a University Medical Center spokeswoman said.

Students said all four girls had left campus after a standardized test. The accident occurred at 12:52 p.m., the Department of Public Safety said.

DPS officer Quentin G. Mehr said the car, a Honda Civic, was taking the northbound Sahuarita Road off-ramp when, for unknown reasons, it failed to negotiate the curve and ran off the road, then ran through a right of way fence, crossed a trench and ran through a second fence.

Brakke, who driving, was trapped in the vehicle and died at the scene. The three passengers were taken by ground ambulance to UMC, Mehr said.

The freeway ramp was closed temporarily after the accident.

Sahuarita Police Lt. Henry Leyva said the car rolled and one girl was ejected, as the car may have tried to make the turn to the off-ramp too late.

The driver and front-seat passenger were not wearing seat belts at the time of the collision, DPS said. It was not known if the two backseat passengers had belts on.

The investigation will be handled by DPS and the Sahuarita Police Department was handling traffic and other support duties.

Top school officials went to the scene and dispatched counselors to the scene and to the high school. They were planning to supplement school counselors with some from Northwest Fire District Wednedsay morning, Superintendent Jay St. John said.

“It’s a tragedy, always, when you have 16-year-olds. They have great reflexes, but lack the judgment of an older person,” St. John said.

School officials told students through the internal high school television system that there had been an accident but were awaiting official confirmation of the identities of those involved.

“We don’t have much information. We’ll let them know as soon as we can. We told them they are to remain in class today and at the end of the day we will do counseling and develop a plan for tomorrow (Wednesday),” St. John said.

Assistant Superintendent Manny Valenzuela was coordinating media relations for the school district.

pfranchine@sahuaritasun.com | 547-9738