Chesterfield Township police have released the name of a 19-year-old woman who was killed in a traffic accident at 12:20 a.m. on Monday.

Police said Rebecca Wheaton of St. Clair Shores died from injuries sustained after she crashed her vehicle into a guard rail on eastbound Interstate 94 near 23 Mile Road. Police said a 19-year-old Algonac man, who was a passenger in the car, is hospitalized at Mount Clemens Regional Medical Center in critical condition.

Chesterfield Township Detective Sgt. Deron Myers said witnesses told police Wheaton was driving at a high rate of speed when she passed them on the freeway moments before she struck the guard rail.

Her vehicle became disabled in the eastbound lanes of the freeway. A 27-year-old Chesterfield Township man was also driving eastbound on the freeway and slammed into the disabled vehicle. Myers said the man and his passenger, a 26-year-old woman from Macomb Township, sustained minor injuries.

"The man who struck the victims' vehicle said he cannot say with certainty whether they were inside or outside of the vehicle when he collided with it," Myers said.

Police said the man told investigators he tried but was unable to avoid hitting the disabled car. Police said speed and alcohol are factors they are considering.

The accident is being investigated by Michigan State Police trooper Tim Brown, an expert in accident reconstruction.

"There were no witnesses to the collision," Myers said. "But motorists on the freeway said the victims' car passed them at a high rate of speed.

"It's terrible for something this tragic to happen at any time, especially on Christmas night."