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Lauren Hewski, a senior at Saint John Vianney High School in Holmdel, was identified as the victim in the fatal wreck at about 12:30 p.m. Thursday May 11 on Laird Road in Colts Neck, according to multiple media accounts.
The Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office said the teenager was a passenger in a Jeep Cherokee that overturned just west of Longbridge Road. The 17-year-old driver was taken to a local hospital for treatment of his injuries.
"The circumstances behind a single-vehicle collision that took place in Colts Neck yesterday, claiming the life of one teenager and injuring another, are under investigation," the prosecutor's office said in a statement.
Hewski was pronounced dead at the scene.
"The identity of the driver is being withheld due to his age, while the identity of the passenger is being withheld pending notification of friends and family," the prosecutor’s office said.
As of Friday, no charges had been filed in the single-vehicle crash, the prosecutor’s office said.
According to New Jersey 101.5 and other news outlets, Hewski was returning from a commencement ceremony at Brookdale Community College in Middletown, where she was attending the Early College High School program.
Hewski received her associates degree from the college shortly before the crash, according to app.com.
The program is a partnership between the high school and the college that allows students to complete their associate’s degree while still in high school.
Brookdale Community College President David M. Stout told the Asbury Park Press that the school was “devastated” by her death.
Stout said Hewski was one of the youngest graduates of the Early College High School Program, a partnership between Brookdale and St. John Vianney High School, where students can earn an associate degree through Brookdale while simultaneously finishing high school.
"We had just celebrated her success as one of our youngest college graduates at Brookdale’s morning Commencement Ceremony," Stout told app.com. "Lauren was an incredibly intelligent and talented young woman who left an indelibly positive impression on all of her faculty and classmates."
According to her LinkedIn account, Hewski was a National Honor Society member, president of the student government from 2020 to 2021, student government treasurer from 2021 to 2022, and an assistant coach for the varsity soccer team.
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