Knoxville, TN : 16-year-old West High school student killed in high-speed crash in West Knoxville on Tuesday, May 10, 2016

The Knoxville Police Department is investigating a car crash on Lyons Bend Road that killed a high school student Wednesday.

Authorities said that about 1:43 p.m., officers along with the Knoxville Fire Department responded to a single-vehicle crash on Lyons Bend Road near Kensington Circle.

According to the preliminary investigation, a Honda Accord was traveling at a high rate of speed when the driver failed to negotiate a curve. The vehicle went off the road and slammed into a tree.

The male teen driver was pronounced dead at the scene.

Knoxville police identified the driver as 16-year-old Roberts Brown Smith.

West High School Principal Katherine Banner said Brown was a sophomore at her school.

"He was a wonderful, beloved student," she said. "He was very popular boy who had lots of friends. … We're all just extremely sad and heartbroken for this family."

Brown was a member of the school's soccer team. His older brother, Boyette Smith, is the starting goalkeeper on the team, which was scheduled to play Bearden High on Wednesday.

"We decided to postpone (the) soccer game," Banner said.

The game will be played 7 p.m. Thursday, according to Bearden coach Ryan Radcliffe.

Banner said there are plans in place to have grief counselors at West High on Thursday for students.

"We've already set up the back of our library for students to go in and share their feelings about what happened," she said.

Investigators are reconstructing the incident to determine the exact cause of the crash.

Source :
Crash on Lyons Bend Road kills West High student