A teenager killed in a horror car crash lost the ‘love of her life’ in an eerily similar accident just six months earlier as Queensland is hit with wave of youth crime.
Heidi Riding, 18, died when the silver Holden Commodore she was a passenger in crashed in the Toowoomba suburb of Newtown on Friday morning.
It is alleged a 19-year-old male driver was speeding down the wrong side of Hursley Road before colliding with trees and a concrete bench.
It has since been revealed Ms Riding had lost her partner Jemmah Lorrain Cole-Crighton, 24, in similar circumstances when an allegedly stolen car she was travelling in ploughed into a tree.
The fiery crash occurred on the Warrego Highway near Helidon in the Lockyer Valley region, just 20km from Toowoomba, on January 13.
Heidi Riding had lost her partner Jemmah Lorrain Cole-Crighton, 24, in eerily similar circumstances when an allegedly stolen car she was travelling in ploughed into a tree
Jen Shaw, the CEO of youth support service Emerge, said Ms Riding had been devastated by her partner’s death.
The founder of the Toowoomba organisation said she didn’t condone Ms Riding’s actions but said the young woman had wanted to turn her life around.
‘I’m absolutely heartbroken — I know she’s made some seriously bad choices but there is another side to Heidi that was gold,’ she told News Corp.
Ms Shaw said Ms Riding was a quiet girl who was funny, loyal and respectful.
‘She had so many demons but she was so determined to help other kids because she couldn’t give herself the same love,’ the youth worker added.
Ms Shaw said the young woman was on the way to getting back on track when Ms Cole-Crighton died in the horror smash.
‘She was crippled by grief all her life and grief kept re-emerging — she lost the love of her life under the same circumstances,’ Ms Shaw said.
Jen Shaw (pictured) the CEO of youth support service Emerge said Ms Riding had been devastated by her partner’s death
Ms Cole-Crighton sustained burns to 95 per cent of her body after the 2009 Toyota Camry she was in hit a tree and burst into flames in January.
She was flown to Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital but she died a short time later.
A 27-year-old male passenger was also rushed to hospital with a serious head injury and extensive burns.
A Queensland Police spokesperson alleged at the time the car had been stolen earlier in the week from Hooper Centre car park, in Toowoomba.
Ms Cole-Crighton’s mum Kelly Cole told News Corp at the time her daughter fought to the end.
She said despite her injuries she crawled out of the car and dragged herself up to a hill where onlookers were able to help her.
Ms Cole added her ‘heart sank’ when she was told her daughter wasn’t going to live.
‘It’s the most gut wrenching news, as a mum, that you could hear,’ she said.
Ms Cole-Crighton (pictured) sustained burns to 95 per cent of her body after the Toyota Camry she was in hit a tree and burst into flames in January
Meanwhile, in the wake of Ms Riding’s horror accident this week a witness told the Courier Mail they had heard the driver screaming.
‘Where are you?’ he was heard shouting while frantically searching the scene.
After discovering the body moments later the man collapsed, according to the witness.
‘She’s dead! She’s dead!’ the driver is said to have screamed.
Debris from the crash was scattered over 50m near the intersection on Tor Street.
Pieces of metal were found embedded into fences and a flaming engine had been thrown at least 20m from the car.
A flaming engine (pictured) had been propelled 20m across the road in the crash where Ms Riding died
The driver was taken to Toowoomba Hospital with minor injuries and an investigation into the single car crash has been launched, Queensland Police said.
No charges have been laid in relation to the crash, but police say that teams from the Forensic Crash Unit and Ethical Standards Command are looking into the incident.
These teams are tasked with finding out what caused the crash and who was responsible, respectively.
The Holden Commodore had been spotted by local patrols earlier in the night but was not engaged, police confirmed in a statement.
It comes as state authorities continue to grapple with a youth crime epidemic that has spiralled out of control.
Queenslanders have repeatedly called on Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk to take drastic action to address the rising crime rate.
An apprentice electrician who was king hit was angry to learn his alleged attacker was released on bail and issued a desperate plea to Ms Palaszczuk to do more.
Rial Malual, 21, is recovering in hospital with a collapsed lung, five days after he was allegedly robbed and stabbed in Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley in late June.
Rial Malual is still struggling to breathe after he was allegedly king-hit and stabbed – causing his lung to collapse
Just one boy, 17, has been charged over the alleged attack and is already back on the streets, despite prosecutors strongly recommending bail be refused when he faced court early this month.
Four other young males remain on the run.
‘What’s the Premier doing about this?’ Mr Malual told Nine News from his hospital bed this month.
‘If there’s no consequences put in place soon this is going to explode.’
‘It’ll be knife crime central, people will no longer go out or feel safe.’
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