Jun 1, 2009 4:13 pm US/Pacific
Taft H.S. Students Cope With Classmate's Death
Teen Killed, 7 Hurt In Crash While Driving To Prom
WOODLAND HILLS, Calif. (CBS) ―
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Jennifer Perla, 16, was killed and seven people injured Saturday night when a SUV overturned on a Los Angeles freeway, a city fire spokesman said.
CBS
Grief counselors were scheduled to be at Taft High School in Woodland Hills Monday after a student was killed Saturday in a traffic collision.
Jennifer Perla, 16, died at the scene and seven other Taft students were injured in a freeway crash near downtown Los Angeles Saturday night.
Kenneth Mullen, 18, of North Hollywood, was driving south on the Harbor 110 Freeway near Eighth Street when he apparently swerved to avoid another vehicle, causing the SUV to overturn, according to the California Highway Patrol.
Perla was not wearing a seatbelt and was thrown from the vehicle, authorities said.
The SUV was not equipped with eight seatbelts.
Four males and three females were taken to hospitals to be treated for minor to moderate injuries and have since been released, a fire department spokesman said.
All eight students were on their way to a senior prom at the California Science Center near the Coliseum when the accident occurred.
Perla was a sophomore cheerleader at Taft and was accompanying her sister and their friends to the senior prom.
The family was too distraught to speak to the media, but released a statement that read: "We will greatly miss Jennifer Perla. She will be remembered as a happy, loving and caring daughter, sister and friend."
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