Hillsboro Student Killed in Car Accident

A Jefferson County teen is dead and two other people are hospitalized after a single-car accident early Thursday night.

By Matt Gamewell,

May 9, 2008, 8:22 PM CDT

A Jefferson County teen is dead and two other people are hospitalized after a single-car accident early Thursday night.

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17-year-old Jessica Kimble was killed when the car she was riding in crashed on a rain-slicked road in Hillsboro. It's the second year in a row a student from Hillsboro High has been killed during the school year, and the administration and student body is devastated to lose another young life.

The Jefferson County Sheriff's Department said Kimble was killed when the car she was riding went off Pioneer Road and down an embankment into some trees. The 17-year-old driver is hospitalized at Jefferson Memorial, while a 33-year-old female passenger is being treated at Barnes-Jewish Hospital.

Fresh flowers on the side of the road, a sad sign of another teen tragedy. Yellow flowers at the crash scene are a memorial honoring Kimble, who died just hours after a special day at Hillsboro High School. "We were so proud because yesterday we had our huge academic pep rally and she was given the award for the most improved junior," said Principal Cheryl Aylesworth.

She may have had troubles during junior high, but Aylesworth remembers Jessica as a sweet and unassuming girl who blossomed in high school. "From the day she stepped in as a Freshman, I think she just made up her mind that she was going to improve the quality of her education and her life, and she did that."

That success was a source of great pride since Jessica was also the teen mother of a one-year-old son. "She was a good little mother, she attended our Parents As Teachers classes and just was trying to make her life special and better," Aylesworth said. "I think that's a testament to Jessica, she was accomplishing what she wanted in life."

Classmates heard the devastating news early in the school day, then spent the day with counselors and pastors talking about the loss. Senior Jimmy Gillian thought of the profound loss for Jessica's boyfriend, who is now a single father before graduating high school. "It's so sad to think it's ended so soon for them, when they've still got their whole life ahead of then, especially when they've got a child at home," he said.

The funeral for Kimble is scheduled for Monday.

Officers from the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department will spend the weekend on a crash re-construction to figure out what caused the accident that killed her.

Toxicology tests are also pending to determine if the driver had alcohol or drugs in his system.