HANOVER TWP, PA : Four teens were in car during fatal crash on April, Saturday 15th 2017

At dusk on Monday, grief-stricken family and friends of Jasmine Cardona huddled around a makeshift memorial dedicated to the teenager who was killed in a violent vehicle crash over the weekend.

This was their private time to mourn the loss of the 16-year-old cheerleader for Wyoming Valley West High School. They said they are planning a bigger vigil later in the week when Jasmine’s heartbroken grandmother arrives from Puerto Rico.

Candles, flowers and other items in an open field along South Main Street mark the spot where the vehicle Jasmine was riding in came to rest after veering off the road and severing a utility pole around 11 p.m. Saturday.

Jasmine was pronounced dead shortly after arrival at Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center in Plains Twp., Luzerne County Chief Deputy Coroner Dan Hughes said.

The Plymouth girl was one of four teenage girls who were in the vehicle, police said.

Jasmine was a passenger and died as a result of multiple traumatic injuries, according to the coroner’s office.

Her manner of death, like the crash itself, remains under police investigation.

Police say the vehicle was traveling south from Wilkes-Barre and suddenly crossed over the northbound lanes upon entering Hanover Twp. The vehicle splintered a utility pole between Division Street and St. Peter’s Lutheran Church and kept going until it stopped in an open field.

All of the occupants were taken by ambulance to hospitals, police said in a news release. Names of the driver and other occupants have not been released.

Hanover Twp. police Chief Albert Walker offered few details on the crash Monday morning, but did confirm that all four occupants of the vehicle were teenagers.

Jasmine, an honor roll student, was a junior at Wyoming Valley West High School, superintendent Irv DeReemer said.

He said school guidance counselors and members of a Children’s Services Center crisis unit will be available today to offer support to Jasmine’s friends, classmates and school faculty.

“We’ll have our plan in place as students arrive for help and support,” DeReemer said. “We will be there for the family and support them in any way that we can.”

Jasmine and her family moved to the area from Plainfield, New Jersey, about a decade ago. She currently was working at Plymouth Hometown Market and was planning to go to college after graduation next year, family said.

Jasmine’s mother, Eneida, is a volunteer and advocate for Luzerne County Head Start who once was flanked by Sen. Bob Casey during a rally against cuts the program’s funding.

Eneida Cardona on Monday said she was too emotionally distraught to talk to a reporter.

Friends of Jasmine on Monday shared the girl’s Facebook profile picture and other memories with messages of shock and heartbreak. Many offered condolences to Jasmine’s family.

News of the crash made its way to the staff and campers at Camp Dost, a Ronald McDonald House sponsored camp for pediatric cancer patients. Counselor Val Mendoza said Jasmine spent five summers there as a sibling camper, supporting her younger brother, Jonathan, a cancer survivor.

“I’m in shock,” Mendoza, of New York City, said, echoing the emotions of many Camp Dost staff members and campers.

Mendoza last worked with Jasmine when she was a member of the camp’s “teen group” last summer.

“She was always very enthusiastic,” Mendoza said. “She loved sneakers and she loved music ... she was really, really supportive of her brother and she was always supportive toward the other campers.”

Mendoza called Jasmine mature for her age and said she spoke often about the future and her desire to pursue higher education.

“We had some good talks, her and I,” Mendoza said. “We had great conversations about life and school ... she wanted to go to college.”

Anyone who witnessed Saturday’s crash is asked to call Hanover Twp. police at 570-825-1254.

Source :
Four teens were in car during fatal Luzerne County crash on Saturday