Police ID Long Island Teen Killed in Wrong-Way Massachusetts Crash

UPDATE 10:50 a.m. Tuesday: The victim from Long Island has been identified as 18-year-old Cory Licata. He graduated from St. John the Baptist Diocesan High School in West Islip in 2016 and was a freshman at Becker College in Worcester, Massachusetts.

The driver of the 2003 Mercury Sable carrying Licata and three other college students was Kraig Diggs, 20, of Paxton and Osterville, Massachusetts. Diggs was a student at Anna Maria College. The passengers in his car were Licata, Jordan Galvin-Jutras, 19, of Hyannis, Massachusetts, a student at Anna Maria; and Jordan Fisher, 19, of Harwich, Massachusetts, a student at Becker College.

The driver of the car traveling in the wrong direction was Valantein V. Burson, 31, of Fall River, Massachusetts.

Original story:

Five people were killed, including an 18-year-old man from Long Island, Monday morning in Massachusetts after a wrong-way driver slammed head-on into a vehicle traveling the opposite direction on Interstate 495, police said.

According to Massachusetts State Police, the wrong-way driver was the sole occupant of the first vehicle and four college students were in the second vehicle.

The crash happened at about 12:11 a.m. on the northbound side of the highway near Exit 3 in Middleborough, police said.

The scene was "horrific," said State Police Maj. Anthony Thomas during a news conference Monday morning.

The vehicle occupied by the college students inside burst into flames upon impact.

"There is no indication that time allowed for evasive action," Thomas said.

The wrong-way driver was identified as a 31-year-old Fall River, Massachusetts, woman driving a 2011 Infiniti G37.

Police said the second vehicle was a 2003 Mercury Sable. The four occupants were identified as:

• An 18-year-old West Babylon, N.Y. man
• A 20-year-old Barnstable, Mass. man
• A 19-year-old Barnstable, Mass. man
• A 19-year-old Harwich, Mass. man

Police said names will be released Tuesday.

Written by Jason Claffey

Photo: The scene of a crash that killed five people in Middleborough, Mass. on Oct. 23, 2016. (Credit: WHDH-7News)