Mira Costa graduate killed in car crash
Rachel Kekauoha. Photo courtesy of Facebook
A Manhattan Beach teen was killed in a car crash on Interstate 40 near Ludlow at 3:15 a.m. on April 6, according to a Barstow California Highway Patrol report.
Mira Costa High School graduate Rachel Kekauoha, 18, was ejected from the car when the driver, an 18-year-old Manhattan Beach man, unsafely turned his 2000 Nissan Pathfinder to the right, passing through the asphalt shoulder and entering into the open desert terrain, the Highway Patrol said.
The car rolled over and Kekauoha was ejected. She died on the scene.
Kekauoha was not wearing a seatbelt, according to the collision report.
At 3:27 a.m., police were called to the scene, and the driver was transported to Arrowhead Regional Medical Center with moderate injuries.
“She was very active in student life on campus,” said Mira Costa Principal Ben Dale, adding that she played for the soccer team and graduated last year.
According to her Facebook page, Kekauoha was a student at Brigham Young University in Idaho.
“Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Kekauoha family,” Dale said. “We consider ourselves extended family. There is a lot of sadness on the campus, a sense of loss and just a concern for her immediate family in wanting to let them know they always have a home here.”
A funeral service will be held on Saturday at 11 a.m. at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Second Ward, 715 Knob Hill Ave., Redondo Beach.