By Vicky Florian ‘14

On January 24, students from Covenant Life School in Gaithersburg were walking along the sidewalk on Muncaster Mill Road when a Honda Accord and a Chrysler Sebring collided and hit the two teens and then hit a tree.

Teressa Rosalind French, 16, of Washington D.C., was killed and Emily Grace Lowe, 13, of Gaithersburg was critically injured. French was a sophomore basketball player and beloved member of the school. Lowe had surgery the next morning and though she is now stable, a long recovery is to be expected.

The crash occurred a little before 2:30 pm. The Sebring’s driver was identified to be Hugo Fernando Da Silv Rompante, 17, and its passengers as Johnny Allen Boykin Jr., 19, and Keanu Ashton Lee, 17. The driver of the Accord was identified as Oscar Javier Fuentes, 17. All four are students at Magruder High School and from Gaithersburg. They were taken to the hospital but did not have any life threatening injuries.

Students from Magruder, who have had experience with tragedy before in 2011 when two graduates and one senior died in a drunk driving accident, were very opinionated about the irresponsible behavior displayed by their classmates, saying it’s not that they are a bad school, it’s just isolated students making poor decisions. No charges have been made yet, said police, but speed is highly likely to be a factor. The investigation could be prolonged up to three months due to the complex nature of the crash. A witness claims the two were street racing, and if that account holds true then both drivers could face substantial charges.