2 Teens Killed in Melville Crash

Two Huntington Station teenagers were killed early Saturday morning when their car struck a tree in Melville.

Suffolk County police said Ray Vega, 18, was driving north on Walt Whitman Road at a high rate of speed when he tried to pass a 1999 Pontiac that was also traveling north and operated by Vegas’ brother, Kevin.

Ray Vega's Honda sideswiped the Pontiac and Vega lost control of the Honda, struck a curb and then a tree in front of 1800 Walt Whitman Road at 1:14 a.m.

Ray Vega and his passenger, Carmen Rivera-Gotay, were trapped in the vehicle, and heavy rescue equipment was needed to remove both victims.

Ray Vega, of Huntington Station, was pronounced dead at the scene by a physician assistant from the Office of the Suffolk County Medical Examiner. Rivera-Gotay, 17, of 309 Nassau Road, Huntington Station, was  taken via a Melville Fire Department ambulance to Plainview Hospital-North Shore where she was pronounced dead.

Kevin Vega, 19, also of Huntington Station, and his passenger, Isaias Perez, 21, of  Huntington Station, were uninjured.

Ray Vega had just graduated from Huntington High School last week. He was a member of the winter and spring track teams. The district said he was planning to attend Suffolk Community College’s western campus in Brentwood and pursue pre-med/pre-law studies.

Jordan Lefranc, a recent graduate of St. Anthony's, arrived on the scene just moments after the accident. He said Saturday that he and several friends from St. Anthony's were driving down Walt Whitman Road and came across the crash. "One guy was screaming, 'get my brother!'," he said. Some of his friends tried to pull the doors open on the wrecked vehicle but were unable to, and when a police officer arrived, they were told "there was nothing we could do," Lefranc, 18, said.

A piece of the car was thrown onto the parking lot of Premier Orthopedic Surgery and Sports Medicine about 60 feet from the street. Skid marks and a blackened curb and debris from the accident, as well as a 30-mph speed limit sign that was snapped in half, were still visible at midday Saturday.

Both vehicles were impounded for safety checks and the investigation is continuing. Detectives are asking anyone with information to contact the Second Squad at 631-854-8252.