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Chardé Spates, of New Haven, was a senior and public health major at Southern Connecticut State University, school officials said in a tribute Facebook post on Monday, Feb. 28.
Spates was identified as one of the drivers killed in a crash that happened at 2:30 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 26, in New Haven County.
Connecticut State Police said a Toyota Camry XLE, driven by Spates, was traveling the wrong way, going south in the northbound lanes, in Meriden and collided with a northbound BMW X5 Xdrive35i.
The driver of the BMW, identified as 50-year-old Judith Melvin-Levy, of Windsor, was also killed in the crash.
According to the SCSU, Spates was a member of the Residential New Haven Promise Emerging Leaders Program in 2018, and her mentor in the program, Dawn Stanton, said Spates was “so warm and kind and full of ambition. She was a hard worker who learned to balance multiple responsibilities and took great pride in everything she committed to achieving."
Spates was just a few credits away from graduation, which was set to take place in August, the school said.
“I will miss her smile, her occasional texts, and knowing all the ways she would have changed the world," Stanton said. "The loss of Chardé is heartbreaking.”
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