2 New Lenox Teens Killed, 2 Injured, After Joliet Crash

JOLIET, IL - The Joliet Police Department is investigating an overnight crash that killed two teenagers from New Lenox early Tuesday morning and injured two other teenage passengers. The Will County Coroner's Office said the two fatality victims are driver Eric Zielinski, 18, and passenger Heather Sturwold. Authorities said the sports utility vehicle driven by Zielinski left the roadway near the intersection of Briggs Street and Spencer Road. Both teenagers who died in the crash were graduates of Lincoln-Way West High School, school district officials said.

Zielinski was pronounced dead at the scene around 4:35 a.m. Sturwold was taken to Silver Cross Hospital in nearby New Lenox where she was pronounced dead at 4:55 a.m., the coroner's office said. On Tuesday afternoon, three former classmates of Zielinski and Sturwold stopped by the scene to survey the damage.

Both of the victims who died were 2018 graduates of Lincoln-Way West, they said.

"They were both beautiful, genuine people who would never hurt a fly," one of the mourners told Patch. "I've known both of them my whole life, since kindergarten I've been going to school with them.

"It's horrible. I'm in shock still. It's really just unbelievable."

Police Update

Joliet Police Sgt. Darrell Gavin said that city police were called to the scene of the fatality at 3:57 a.m. when a Will County Sheriff's deputy came upon the red Honda CRV that had struck a large tree at the southwest corner of Briggs Street near Spencer Road.

Gavin said there were a total of four teenagers inside the CRV. The other two occupants were males ages 17 and 19, he said. Both were hospitalized in critical condition, he said. One was taken to Silver Cross Hospital and the other was flown by Life Flight to Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove.

"I'm not sure if it was speed-related or if other factors were involved," Gavin told Patch mid-afternoon on Tuesday. He said it's his understanding that Joliet's accident reconstruction team was still assembling their investigative reports surrounding the crash.

Neighbor Heard Crash

On Tuesday afternoon, Patch interviewed a husband and wife whose house is across the street from where the two teenagers died. The couple said they have lived at the intersection for decades. The woman told Patch that she was awoken by the sound of the crash at 2:52 a.m. However, "when I heard the bang, I thought my husband fell off the bed."

When she was saw that he was sound asleep in their bed, "I remember checking the clock and I went back to sleep."

Around 4 a.m., the couple heard all of the commotion as several police cars, ambulances and fire engines arrived at the scene.

It was evident from walking the scene of the double fatality that the New Lenox driver misjudged the curve on Briggs Street as the four teenagers were traveling south on Briggs Street shortly before 3 a.m.

The CRV went off the road and went through the yard where there's a large for sale sign of a vacant residential property along Briggs Street.

The red Honda CRV then slammed into a large tree, killing the driver and one of his backseat passengers, police said. The lot where the crash happened is adjacent to the Jack Doheny Companies business off Spencer Road.

Patch will continue to update this story as more information becomes available.

Photos by John Ferak, Patch Staff