| In the interest of speed and timeliness, this story is fed directly from the Associated Press newswire and may contain spelling or grammatical errors. |
Murrieta senior dies in car crash returning home from prom
TuesdayVISTA, Calif. (AP) An 18-year-old girl returning from her school prom died when her date fell asleep at the wheel and crashed into a center divider on Interstate 15 in northern San Diego County, authorities said.
Kristel Reyes of Murrieta was killed early Sunday. She was the second Southern California senior to die returning home from the prom in less than 24 hours.
Westley Williams, 18, of Los Angeles, died Saturday when his car veered across a center divider and crashed head-on into a bus in South Los Angeles.
Reyes and her boyfriend, 17-year-old Nicholas Stewart, attended the Temecula Valley High School prom, held 50 miles away in San Diego.
They were driving home when he crashed into the northbound I-15 center divider near Gopher Canyon Road at about 1:15 a.m. Sunday, according to the California Highway Patrol.
Stewart suffered only minor cuts and bruises, CHP officers said.
Police say Williams may also have fallen asleep at the wheel.
He had dropped off his prom date and was returning home at about 8 a.m. Saturday when he crashed into a Metropolitan Transportation Authority bus.
About 300 classmates gathered at the crash site Monday night for a candlelight vigil to remember Williams. They placed candles and flowers at the intersection.
``He was loved by everybody, teachers, other students, staff, just about everybody,'' said his drama teacher, Steve Miller.
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