Renaissance High Student Killed in Afternoon Crash

A Renaissance High student died following a crash Friday afternoon west of Watsonville, according to the California Highway Patrol and the Pajaro Valley Unified School District.

"We lost a kid," Murry Schekman, the school district's assistant superintendent said Friday afternoon.

The girl was an upperclassmen at , a continuation high school on San Andreas Road, Schekman said.

"She was a well-liked girl out there," Schekman said. "There's a lot sad people today."

The crash occurred around 1:20 p.m. between a truck and the newer-model Volkswagen Beetle that the girl was driving. The vehicles collided near 596 San Andreas Rd., close to Sunset Beach Road, according to the CHP.

The girl didn't have a pulse when emergency crews arrived and CPR was started. She was pronounced dead at the scene and the coroner was called, according to emergency radio traffic.

A photo of the wrecked car on KSBW Action News 8's website showed the passenger's side of the white Bug crumpled.

The crash happened about two miles south of the school, a route many students take to get back to their Watsonville homes.

The Renaissance High principal had heard sirens shortly after the crash and was trying to determine if any of her students had been affected, Schekman said. Shortly after that, she was contacted by emergency personnel who told her the girl had been killed.

"The whole school is very sad," Schekman said.

A second person suffered minor injuries in the crash, according to emergency radio traffic. That person was taken to Watsonville Community Hospital for treatment.

The road is a two-lane rural thoroughfare that cuts through strawberry fields and rolling hills. It was cleared around 3 p.m.

No other information about the crash was immediately available, Santa Cruz CHP officials said.

—Bay City News contributed to this report.