Local News

GoFundMe launched for Ayer high school student killed in Leominster crash

Krystal Mello, 16, was killed and three other teenagers were seriously injured in a single-car crash on Route 190 North last week.

By Heather Alterisio

October 11, 2022

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A loved one has organized a GoFundMe to help pay the funeral expenses for the 16-year-old girl who was killed in a single-car crash on Route 190 North in Leominster last week.

Ashley Dennis, who launched the fundraiser on behalf of the family, identified the teenager from Ayer as Krystal Mello, writing, “As many of y’all know from either hearing it or seeing it on the news, our sweet Krystal Mello was in a tragic car accident on Thursday night and her life was cut short.”

Massachusetts State Police responded to the scene of the crash Thursday night shortly after 7 p.m.

“Preliminary investigation indicates that the girl, an Ayer resident, was a passenger in the 2001 Ford Mustang that went off the highway, down an embankment, and into the wood line,” the agency said in a release.

The other three occupants of the vehicle were rescued from in or under the vehicle by Leominster firefighters and suffered serious injuries as a result of the accident, officials said.

An 18-year-old male from Shirley, who is believed to have been the driver, was transported to Leominster Hospital, while the other two – a 16-year-old girl from Shirley and an 18-year-old male from Bolton – were taken to UMass Hospital-Lakeside.

More than 300 people have donated to the GoFundMe since its launch this weekend.

“Krystal was a beautiful 16 year old in 11th grade with such a vibrant loving soul with the best personality,” Dennis wrote. “Her death is a tragedy and so unexpected.”

Mello was reportedly a junior at Ayer Shirley Regional High School.

“All of us at ASRSD are deeply saddened by the tragic loss of one of our students, an eleventh grader, who died in a car accident yesterday. We, the faculty, students, and staff of ASRSD, wish to extend our deepest sympathy and heart-felt condolences to the families, relatives, many friends, and classmates,” Ayer Shirley Regional School District Superintendent Adam Renda wrote in a letter to families Friday, while noting that resources would be available for those throughout the district in need of support following this news, Sentinel and Enterprise reported.

Amid the donations, friends and loved ones left notes on the GoFundMe page, expressing their condolences to the family.

One donor remembered Mello as a “beautiful, spunky, chatty, full of life girl,” and another described her as “a funny, kind, athletic, and intelligent young woman.”

Following a preliminary investigation, officials believe the Mustang was moving northbound in the right lane and, as the driver approached other vehicles ahead of the car in the right lane, the driver shifted into the left lane and lost control, causing the vehicle to spin as it went off the right side of the road, State Police said last week.

“The cause of the crash remains under investigation, with excessive speed being examined as a possible factor,” the agency noted.