On their way to school, two teens die in crash

Newly licensed driver hit tree

Fellow students gathered at the site where Joseph DeYoung and Brian McMahon were killed after crashing into a tree yesterday. (Robert E. Klein for The Boston Globe)

MIDDLEBOROUGH - An 18-year-old high school student who got his driver's license Dec. 2 lost control of his sedan yesterday and slammed into a tree on the way to classes, killing himself and his 17-year-old passenger, a pair of deaths that plunged this town into mourning.

Middleborough Police Chief Gary Russell had tears in his eyes as he told reporters how wet road conditions, excessive speed, and driver inexperience combined to end the lives of the two seniors at Middleborough High School,

"These kids weren't doing real bad . . . and now they're gone," he said. "It's just a terrible tragedy. It's tragic for this whole town."

Russell identified the driver as Joseph W. DeYoung and the passenger as Brian McMahon. The 1996 Saturn crashed around 7:30 a.m. on Purchase Street, a short distance from DeYoung's home on Rocky Gutter Street.

DeYoung had already picked up McMahon from his Lakeview Terrace home and was using back roads to get to a doughnut shop on Route 28 before school, the chief said.

"They lost control on a corner, and the tires got off onto the side of the road," said Russell. "It appears they overcompensated and hit the tree beside the road.'

Police and Middleborough firefighters frantically tried to pull the teenagers out of the mangled wreck, but the two were pronounced dead at the scene, Russell said. Classmates described the two teenagers as being as close as brothers.

At the homes of DeYoung and McMahon, relatives were too overcome with grief to speak yesterday.

Fellow students gathered at the crash site, leaving flowers, weeping, and exchanging hugs. Some of them spoke briefly with DeYoung's maternal grandfather, Gordon Hathaway, who stopped by despite the rain.

Several students shook Hathaway's hand and told him of their affection for his grandson.

"Everybody liked Joey," Hathaway said.

He said DeYoung was given the car by his paternal grandfather so he could drive himself to a diesel mechanic school he planned to attend when he graduated.

Students described DeYoung as the quieter of the pair who could usually be found listening to rap music on his iPod, texting friends, and spending time with his girlfriend of about a year.

"He's very quiet," said Amanda Knight, 17 and a senior. "He doesn't like to be in school. He goes, and he gets his work done and puts his head down. . . . He always talked about music."

McMahon, they said, was outgoing, usually spoke in a loud voice, and was considered to be one of the funniest students at the high school.

"He was always with the jokes, making people laugh," said Michael Clark, a 17-year-old who played pool with McMahon on Wednesday night.

The school plans to have counselors on hand at the campus today, according to a statement released by Superintendent Robert M. Sullivan.

"Profound tragedy struck our school community," Sullivan said in the statement. "Please keep the families of our deceased students in your thoughts and prayers."

McMahon, according to his friends, has an older brother who is a US Marine serving in Iraq. DeYoung has one younger brother and a younger stepbrother, Hathaway said.

Russell urged parents of teenagers to help their children gain driving experience before allowing them to drive on their own or with friends.

"Just because they get a license doesn't mean they know how to drive; it just means they passed a driver's test," he said. "A kid doesn't know what to do. That's what happened."