EDISON — The 15-year-old boy who killed himself and two others in an Oct. 15 crash had sought to commit suicide, according to police.
The underage driver, who authorities have not identified, veered into oncoming traffic and caused the fatal accident that claimed the lives of the three Edison residents, according to Middlesex County Acting Prosecutor Andrew C. Carey and Chief Thomas J. Bryan of the Edison Police Department.
While the specific cause for the crash remains under investigation, the collision, which occurred on Route 27 near Stony Road around 12:30 a.m., is being classified as a suicide-homicide.
The determination is based on information gathered by Detective Lisa Cimmino of the Edison Police Department and Investigator Jeffrey Temple of the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office.
Police arrived after the collision to find the three involved individuals seriously injured. The teen, who was driving a 1995 Honda Civic, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Ali Behzad, 35, the passenger in the 2011 Nissan Altima into which the teen crashed, was also pronounced dead at the scene.
The car’s driver, Mohammed Zia, 46, died shortly after the accident at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick.
The unidentified teen was a sophomore at J.P. Stevens High School, according to a letter from school Principal Gail Pawlikowski to parents posted on the school’s website.
She wrote that the district’s Crisis Response Team would be on hand for coming weeks, providing counseling to any students who needed it. Pawlikowski also asked parents to look out for warning signs from their teens who may be struggling with the grief of the loss.
“We would like to recommend that you monitor your child’s online use in the days and weeks to come for messages that your child or a friend is significantly struggling with this death,” she wrote. “Sometimes youth will post messages indicating that they are engaging in risky behaviors such as drinking or using drugs as they try to deal with the death. And some may indicate that they are having suicidal thoughts or behaviors.”
Pawlikowski asked parents to keep an eye out for any concerning social media posts among students, and to alert a child’s parents or school officials about them.
The police investigation of the accident is ongoing. Anyone with information is asked to call Det. Cimmino of the Edison Police Department at 732-248-7529, or Investigator Temple of the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office at 732-745-3373, to assist in the investigation.