Two teenage pals – at least one of them bent on suicide – raced along a New Jersey highway at more than 100 mph and slammed into a utility pole early yesterday, investigators said.
The violent impact ripped the car in half, killing the 15-year-old passenger, a sophomore at South Brunswick HS.
The 16-year-old driver survived the horrific crash, but was critically injured and now faces a murder charge.
Investigators believe he deliberately smashed into the pole “at a grossly excessive speed” intent on killing himself and his best friend, a source in the Middlesex County prosecutor’s office told The Post.
A suicide note reportedly was found at the scene – but details of its contents were not released.
Investigators are looking into the possibility that there was a suicide pact between the two, who were best friends and classmates, the source said.
He said the driver was speeding north on Route 1 in South Brunswick in his 1993 Ford Taurus shortly before 4 a.m., when he swerved into the southbound lanes through a cut in the concrete divider and rammed into a utility pole.
The teen zipped across several lanes of traffic, making no effort to hit his brakes before crashing into the pole and splitting his car in two, the source noted.
His passenger, Richard Von Deesten, was pronounced dead at the scene.
His body was pinned in the mangled back half of the car, but could not be removed for more than eight hours because workers had to secure the utility pole before the Jaws of Life could be used.
The driver – who was not identified – was thrown through the windshield of the crumpled front half of the car.
He was taken to Robert Wood Johnson Hospital in critical condition.
He is being charged with juvenile delinquency for a criminal offense – New Jersey’s equivalent of a murder charge for a minor, the source said.
But the prosecutor’s office expects to seek a waiver to charge the teen as an adult, the source said.
Shocked classmates at South Brunswick HS said they could not believe the crash was intentional.
“They were happy guys. They were friends with everybody,” a buddy of the two told WABC-TV.
The school had 20 grief counselors on hand yesterday to help students deal with the tragedy.