Updated: Monday, April 21
Two teenagers killed in a head-on crash Saturday night in Johnson County were Shawnee Mission South High School students.
District officials confirmed Itzel Guerra, 18, was a senior at the Overland Park school and Jose Placensia Castañeda, 17, was a junior.
SM South principal Todd Dain sent a message to families, students and staff on Sunday informing the school community of the two students’ deaths.
“As you can imagine, it will be an extremely difficult time for the Castañeda and Guerra families. Our hearts go out to them, and we will stand with them as they work to process their grief,” Dain wrote.
“Death is always difficult, but particularly so when it happens to students who are so young,” Dain said. “It will be important to recognize that all of us will need time to process what has happened and to express our feelings.”
Dain said school and district staff would be available to “talk with anyone who is struggling to handle their emotions around this difficult issue.”
Students across the Shawnee Mission district did not have class on Monday due to a planned professional learning day for staff.
By Monday morning, online fundraisers had been set up for the families of both Guerra and Castañeda.
On the crowdfunding site SpotFund, a fundraiser for Guerra said the pair were returning home from SM South’s prom Saturday when the crash occurred.
“Itzel was only 18 and just less than a month from graduation [from] high school. Itzel was beautiful and full of life … She had the best sense of humor and will be deeply missed,” the fundraiser says.
Similarly, a fundraiser for Castañeda on GoFundMe set up by his older brother said the 17-year-old was “full of light‑hearted mischief and always ready to make you laugh.”
“We are raising funds to cover funeral expenses, replace lost wages due to time off work, and pay outstanding medical bills,” Castañeda’s fundraiser summary says.
As of Monday morning, the fundraiser for Castañeda had raised nearly $8,900 and the one for Guerra had raised more than $5,000.
Original story continues below:
The Kansas Highway Patrol says two Johnson County teenagers were killed in a crash on Metcalf Avenue just north of Johnson Drive late Saturday night.
Police, firefighters and paramedics were called to the crash scene in the northbound lanes of Metcalf Avenue at 11:21 p.m.
Firefighters from Consolidated Fire District No. 2 and the Overland Park Fire Department arrived on the scene to report a two-vehicle crash with at least one person trapped inside a vehicle.
Police from Overland Park and Mission closed all lanes of Metcalf at Johnson Drive.
Around 1 a.m. Sunday, Mission Police Chief Dan Madden told the Post that the Kansas Highway Patrol would investigate the crash due to their expertise and resources with serious crash investigations.
The Kansas Highway Patrol said that a 2013 Toyota Corolla was being driven south on Metcalf when it crossed the raised median into the northbound lanes and struck a 2015 Kia Optima head-on.
Highway Patrol troopers said Itzel Guerra, 18, of Overland Park, was a passenger in the Toyota. She died at the scene, according to the Highway Patrol.
The driver of the Toyota, 17-year-old Jose Placensia Castañeda, was taken by Johnson County Med-Act ambulance to the University of Kansas Hospital, where he died from his injuries.
The highway patrol’s online crash log says that no one in the Toyota was wearing a seat belt.
Johnson County Med-Act ambulances also transported both occupants of the Kia to KU Medical Center.
Troopers say both women who were in the Kia are from Kansas City, Missouri.
The Kia driver, a 44-year-old woman, has what the highway patrol described as a “suspected serious injury.” The passenger, a 41-year-old woman, had minor injuries.
Both women in the Kia were wearing seat belts, according to the highway patrol.
Metcalf Avenue reopened around 3 a.m. on Sunday.
The Kansas Highway Patrol continues to investigate the circumstances surrounding the crash.
No other details have been released.
