Heath high-schooler dies after crash
Heath High School is mourning the loss of a student who died Christmas Day following a crash the night before on slick roads just south of Newark.
Brookelyn Bebout, 17, of Heath, was a passenger in a 2008 Dodge Avenger driven by Kyle Smith, 17, of Newark, when Smith lost control of the car just before 8:40 p.m. along Fairview Road, according to the State Highway Patrol. The car spun out, crossed the center line and was struck broadside by an 2007 Toyota RAV4 driven by Jeremy Johnson, 32, of Cumberland in Guernsey County.
Bebout was taken to OhioHealth Grant Medical Center, where she died Monday. Smith, her boyfriend who attends Lakewood High School in Hebron, also was taken to Grant with injuries that were not life-threatening.
Johnson was being treated for unspecified injuries at Licking Memorial Hospital.
Counselors were available Tuesday afternoon at the school library “to help students cope with this tragic loss and have a gathering place for those in mourning,” according to the school’s Facebook page.
Ryan Fitz, assistant principal, said Bebout was “a wonderful student and person” who had many friends through her involvement with cross-country and softball teams.
She had begun her junior year this past fall by enrolling at the Career and Technology Education Centers of Licking County in hopes of pursuing a nursing career, Fitz said.
“She’ll be sorely missed,” he said.
Smith’s vehicle was estimated to be traveling at 45 mph, 10 mph below the 55 mph limit, according to the crash report, which said there was snow on the ground. All three people involved were wearing seatbelts.
The patrol urges all motorists to use extreme caution when driving during bad weather.