Wilkes-Barre Teen Killed in Overnight Crash
By: Jeremy Deebel
Updated: October 15, 2012
Bear Creek Township, Luzerne County-- A Wilkes-Barre teenager is dead after a wreck late Sunday night.
The crash happened shortly before midnight along Bald Mountain Road in Bear Creek Township.
State police tell us Margaret Hughes was killed in the wreck.
Wilkes-Barre Area school administrators confirm the 15-year-old was a student at James Coughlin High School.
The crash happened on a dark, winding section of Bald Mountain Road around 11:40 Sunday night.
Shards of glass, poker chips, and a broken tire still littered the scene early Monday morning.
Troopers say the car was headed west bound at a high rate of speed when it veered off the side of the road and struck a ditch, rolling several times.
The driver, 20-year-old Kenneth Kasuba, and a passenger, 19-year-old Christopher Gillispie-- both of Bear Creek Township-- were treated at Geisinger Wyoming Valley for minor injuries.
We're told both were wearing seatbelts.
But according to troopers, 15-year-old Margaret Hughes was not wearing a safety belt, and later died at the hospital.
The superintendent says grief counselors will be on hand in Wilkes-Barre area schools today and in the days ahead as needed.
Students tell us the loss of another classmate adds even further to what has already been a tough year.
Coughlin H.S. senior Jamie Wickizer said, "It's going to be very mournful. Many of us are going to be sad. It's going to be terrible. She was a great girl, you know? The whole school's probably devastated. We've had many losses recently, so it's going to be another difficult run on this, you know?"
A neighbor-- who declined to appear on camera-- says crashes are common along that stretch of Bald Mountain Road.
Hughes' tragic death comes right as Pennsylvania begins a statewide observance of Teen Driver Safety Week-- citing tougher laws passed this year with regard to increased training hours and limited passengers for young drivers.
