Two high school cheerleaders who 'everyone loved' tragically killed in Pennsylvania car accident less than a week before school is to start 

  • Jim Thorpe Area High School cheerleaders Jasmine Fonseca and Taylor Shepherdson died in a car crash Thursday night 
  • Police believe the car 16-year-old girls were in lost control and drove into oncoming traffic, hitting another vehicle
  • At least eight people were in the smash and some were thrown from car
  • Grief counselors will be on hand when school begins Wednesday
  • Police have not released the names of other teens in crash

By Regina F. Graham For Dailymail.com

Published: 08:42 EST, 23 August 2015 | Updated: 11:01 EST, 23 August 2015

Two high school cheerleaders were killed in a car accident in a small Pennsylvania town less than a week before school is set to begin.

Jasmine Fonseca and Taylor Shepherdson died after the vehicle they were traveling in on Thursday night crashed into another car on Route 903 in Carbon County.

Police say there were eight people involved in the crash that killed the two 16-year-old girls who were cheerleaders at Jim Thorpe Area High School.

State police said Tegan Kane, 18, was driving the girls and at least two other teenage boys, when it is believed that he lost control and drove into oncoming traffic, WNEP reported. 

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Jasmine Fonseca
Taylor Shepherdson

Heartbreaking: Jasmine Fonseca (left) and Taylor Shepherdson (right) were killed in a car accident on Thursday night in Carbon County. Both 16-year-old girls were cheerleaders at Jim Thorpe Area High School

Crash: Police say there were eight people involved in the deadly wreck on Route 903 in Carbon County. The photo above shows one of the cars in the smash

Crash: Police say there were eight people involved in the deadly wreck on Route 903 in Carbon County. The photo above shows one of the cars in the smash

Accident: Investigators say that many of the teens in the car with the girls were thrown from the vehicle on impact. The photo above is one of the vehicles involved in the accident

Accident: Investigators say that many of the teens in the car with the girls were thrown from the vehicle on impact. The photo above is one of the vehicles involved in the accident

The vehicle hit another car that was carrying a couple from New York state. 

The accident happened just a mile away from the entrance to the development in Albrightsville where both Fonseca and Shepherdson lived.

Police say that many of the teenagers were thrown from the vehicle and they are still investigating. 

Jim Thorpe Area School District is set to start classes on Wednesday and officials and students say it will be hard to start the new school year without the girls. 

Jasmine Fonseca
Taylor Shepherdson

Tragic: Jasmine Fonseca (left) and Taylor Shepherdson (right) both lived in the same development in Albrightsville

'The students had great spirit and pride in Jim Thorpe and that's going to help everyone move on,' Jim Thorpe Area High School principal Thomas Lesisko told WNEP. 

'The teachers, everyone. Everyone loved them. They were two very special girls, most definitely,' Veronica Vogeo of Jim Thorpe told WNEP. 

Grief counselors are on hand at the high school and have already met with the cheerleading squad and their coach.  

Classes are set to begin at Jim Thorpe Area High School (above) this Wednesday. Grief counselors are on hand at the school and have already met with the cheerleading squad and their coach

Classes are set to begin at Jim Thorpe Area High School (above) this Wednesday. Grief counselors are on hand at the school and have already met with the cheerleading squad and their coach

Spirit: Jim Thorpe Area High School Principal Thomas Lesisko said that the girls had 'great spirit and pride' in their school

Spirit: Jim Thorpe Area High School Principal Thomas Lesisko said that the girls had 'great spirit and pride' in their school

'We're a small district, so it affects everyone from bus drivers, to custodians, to secretaries, to teachers and students,' Lesisko told WNEP. 

The names of the other teens involved in the crash have not been released by authorities. 

WNEP reported that many of the victims involved in the crash are students at the high school and that at least one 17-year-old boy is in a serious condition.  

A pep rally called Meet the Olympians that usually involves the cheerleaders has already been canceled by the school.  

Jasmine Fonseca
Taylor Shepherdson

Devastating: One student at the high school said that both Jasmine Fonseca (left) and Taylor Shepherdson (right) were 'two very special girls' and that 'everyone loved them'

 

 

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