A joyride on a rainy night turned tragic late Thursday when an unlicensed teen driver was killed in a single-vehicle crash less than five miles from his home, the state Highway Patrol reported.

A second teen was critically injured in the crash, the patrol said.

Thomas Austin Cope, 15, of 568 Neodak Road in Apex was pronounced dead at the scene, said investigating State Trooper J. N. Harrelson. The passenger was identified as Brandon Allen,15. The Highway Patrol did not provide an address for Allen. He was transported to UNC Hospitals and was listed in critical condition, a hospital spokeswoman said Friday.

The crash occurred shortly before 10 p.m. on Martha's Chapel Road, about 16 miles east of Pittsboro and about three miles from Apex, Harrelson said.

The teens were traveling east on Martha's Chapel Road in a 2005 Porsche sports utility vehicle that belonged to Cope's parents, the patrol reported.

The SUV crossed the center line and went off the left side of the road where it struck a ditch before hitting a tree head-on.

Cope had just received his learner's permit to drive. He was not wearing a seat belt, Harrelson reported.

Excessive speed was a factor in the crash, the patrol reported. State emergency management officials said they did not think the accident was storm-related.

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Brandon Allen later died at the hospital the next night.