(SOUTH HOLLAND) A 16-year-old boy died early Sunday when the vehicle he was driving crashed into a tree in south suburban South Holland.
Officers responding to a report of a crash about 4 a.m. near 158th and State streets found the vehicle damaged beyond recognition and a person on the ground next to the vehicle, according to a statement from the South Holland Police Department.
The boy, identified as 16-year-old Jayelin Warner, was pronounced at the scene at 4:23 a.m., according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office. He was presumed to be the driver and only occupant.
Warner, of the 17300 block of Wooded Path Drive in Hazel Crest, died of multiple injuries he suffered in the crash, an autopsy performed Monday revealed. His death was ruled an accident.
A preliminary investigation found that the vehicle was traveling southbound on State Street, police said. As it passed 157th Street, it drove through the northbound lanes of State Street, left the roadway toward the east and struck a tree, police said.
Police said there were no obvious skid marks at the scene.
The cause of the crash remains under investigation by the South Suburban Major Accident Reconstruction Team.
