Two people were killed and another two were injured when their van crashed on Interstate 79 in Franklin Park, state police said.

Facebook photo of Connor Johnson and his sister
The accident happened at about 1:30 p.m. Sunday in the northbound lanes near the Wexford exit. Killed were Jaclyn Kennedy, 18, and Connor Johnson, 21, both of Baden, Beaver County.

Channel 4 Action News' Marcie Cipriani reported that Kennedy was an Ambridge Area High School senior and Johnson was a former student at that school. Principal Alan Fritz said students wore blue on Monday in memory of the victims.

Police said the driver -- Kennedy's younger sister -- was trying to avoid debris in the middle of the three-lane highway and lost control of the vehicle, a 1991 Chevrolet Astro.
"Maddie's blaming herself for it, and it's not Maddie's fault," a friend of Jaclyn Kennedy told Cipriani. "A tire on an 18-wheeler blew out in front of her, and she swerved to miss it, and she got caught up in the gravel and stuff on the side, and it just sucked the van over and into a pole."

Jaclyn Kennedy, who was the front-seat passenger, and Johnson, who was in the rear seat, were pronounced dead at the scene, police said.

The 16-year-old driver and a 21-year-old man from Rochester who was in the back seat were taken to Allegheny General Hospital and were last reported to be in serious condition.


Police said it does not appear that speed was a factor in the crash, and the driver was the only person wearing a seat belt.

Johnson's sister, Jordan, was very emotional Monday as she told Cipriani that she and her brother were best friends. She also said that she and her mother drove past the crash scene before they knew that the young man was involved.

"Oh my God, I don't know what I'm going to do without him," the 17-year-old Johnson said.