Murder/Suicide Crash Kills Teenager

[bloodrayne]

Teen Dead, Another Facing Charges, After Early-Morning Crash

South Brunswick - A 15-year-old boy died yesterday, and his 16-year-old friend is facing a criminal charge after the older boy drove his mother's car into a telephone pole on Route 1 in attempt to kill himself and his friend, authorities said.

Richard Von Deesten, 15, a 10th-grader at South Brunswick High School, was pronounced dead at the scene of yesterday's early morning accident on Route 1 near Deans Lane.
Police and prosecutors would not identify the driver of the vehicle, but school officials released the names of the two boys involved in the crash: Von Deesten and Joshua Aanestad.

Aanestad, who lives in the Monmouth Junction section of the township and is a junior at the high school, has been charged with a criminal offense that if committed by an adult would constitute murder.

He was ejected from the car and is listed in serious condition in the pediatric intensive-care unit at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick.

Assistant Middlesex County Prosecutor Nicholas Sewitch said the 16-year-old boy took his mother's 1993 Ford Taurus without her permission. Around 3:50 a.m., he drove northbound on Route 1 with Von Deesten in the front passenger seat. At the Deans Lane intersection, where there is a break in the center divider, Aanestad drove across both southbound lanes and hit a utility pole located off of the southbound shoulder, said Sewitch.

The right-front section of the car struck the pole, and the impact sheared the car in half.

The investigation revealed the car was being driven at a "grossly excessive rate of speed when the crash occurred," and authorities will reconstruct the accident scene to determine the speed of the vehicle, according to the Prosecutor's Office.

Von Deesten was pinned inside the car, and he was pronounced dead at 5:16 a.m.

The right southbound lane on Route 1, between Henderson Road and Deans Lane, was closed for much of the afternoon yesterday as utility workers tried to repair the utility pole and restore electricity to businesses on the southbound side of the highway.

Sewitch said he could not comment on why the 16-year-old tried to kill himself and his passenger. Sewitch said the intentions of both the driver and the passenger are under investigation, and the assistant prosecutor could not comment on a motive, whether the two boys made a pact or if a note was left behind.

But authorities confirmed a note was found on one of the boys.

Upon his release from the hospital, the 16-year-old will be sent to the Middlesex County Juvenile Detention Center in North Brunswick, pending a Family Court hearing on his case.

Students left South Brunswick High School at 2:25 p.m. yesterday looking dazed. Some quickly got on cell phones to tell stories about what took place in the morning, others whispered among themselves, but most just walked quietly to their cars.

"I can't describe what it's like," said senior Mike Speziale. "At first we were all distressed and now it's just like everyone has just shut up. It was so quiet today."

Students described the mood at the high school as dismal. An announcement was made at 12:45 p.m. to inform the students that there had been an accident involving two of their classmates and another was made several hours later announcing that one of the students had died.

"We're all just trying to stick together and get through this," said junior Chris Guarini, a friend of Aanestad.

Guarini said Von Deesten and Aanestad were close friends. He described the two as outgoing and not the least bit quiet.

"I can't believe this happened," Guarini said.

According to high school Principal Tim Matheney, officials informed him of the accident around 6:45 a.m. At that time, he met with the district's emergency-response team to go through specific crisis-response procedures. The school's library was closed off for students to meet with the more than 20 counselors on hand, as well as share their thoughts and feelings with each other.

"Dealing with grief is simply dealing with grief," Matheney said. "We don't know all the details, and we may never know."

Counselors will be available all week and through the holiday vacation to meet with students and teachers, Matheney said.

Contacted by telephone, a man who identified himself as Von Deesten's grandfather would say only that the family was "having a tough time" dealing with the situation.

An effort to reach the Aanestad family was unsuccessful.

"We're waiting to get all the information on this very tragic event," said Board of Education President Bob Long. "We send our condolences to both families."

In December 2003, a 17-year-old senior at the high school committed suicide by plunging 23 floors inside the atrium of the Marriott Marquis in New York City. It was reported that he left a suicide note on the 31st floor interior balcony of the Times Square hotel. He struck the bar on the hotel's eighth floor.

[horror_master]

That kinds of sucks to hear.