A 14-year-old girl has been charged with dangerous driving causing death after the car she allegedly drove crashed into the back of a truck, killing her 15-year-old friend.
The teen was charged on Thursday after the allegedly stolen Holden Captiva collided with a truck on the Hume Highway in Locksley, regional Victoria, about 8.30am on Wednesday.
Montanna Russell, 15, who was in the front seat, died at the scene.
The charged teenager sustained upper body injuries and was flown to hospital in a stable condition.
She has been released on bail and will face children’s court at a later date.
Montanna Russell (above) was killed in a horror car crash after the allegedly stolen Holden Captiva she was in smashed into the back of a truck
The alleged 14-year-old driver was charged with dangerous driving causing death on Thursday (pictured, the aftermath of the crash)
A 12-year-old boy also inside the vehicle was taken to Royal Children’s Hospital in a stable condition.
It’s understood the Captiva and truck were travelling north on the highway when the car crashed into the right side of the truck’s rear.
Superintendent Michael Layton said it was ‘driving erratically’ on the road before the crash.
‘Quite tragically, before police had the opportunity to intervene the collision was reported,’ he said.
‘(It’s) a life-changing event unfortunately for the family of the deceased 15-year-old girl.’
He explained that the Captiva was reported stolen from a home in the Wangaratta area just before midnight on Tuesday.
Montana’s ex-boyfriend Toby Blanchard (pictured together above) described the 15-year-old’s death as ‘heartbreaking’
‘The car was (allegedly) taken from a driveway up in the northeast, up near Wangaratta, and those circumstances obviously are forming part of the investigation as to the occupants, where they’ve travelled, what they were doing and where they’d been prior to the collision occurring.’
The teenagers in the car are believed to be friends from the Wangaratta region, according to the superintendent.
‘This is a tragic scene and high risk-taking behaviour by youths. It’s totally avoidable and I’d also say it’s probably the worst nightmare of every parent who might be dealing with rebellious teens and young people,’ he said.
Montana’s ex-boyfriend Toby Blanchard, 17, and his family said they’ll miss her ‘adventurous’ spirit with Toby saying ‘no one deserves this’.
‘It’s heartbreaking what’s happened. I’ll miss just being with her on the beach and watching movies and playing Fortnite all day,’ he told the Herald Sun.
Toby’s dad, Aaron, said Montana’s death has shattered Toby.
The allegedly stolen Holden Captiva collided with a truck on the Hume Highway in Locksley (marked on the map above)
‘He’s pretty shaken up. He still cared for Montana a lot – they were together for a while and were very close. They just broke up in April this year,’ he said.
‘My young girls miss her tremendously. They’re all pretty close.’
Mr Blanchard described Montana: ‘She was always very happy, joking around. My favourite memory of her is when we went down to Killarney Beach in Warrnambool this January and went just north of Sydney to camp. She loved adventures.’
‘It’s awful like it’s a tragedy. Life lost way too soon.’
Friends and family of Montana have posted moving tributes to the teen on social media following the tragedy.
‘Sending my condolences. Rest easy beautiful girl,’ wrote one.
Another said: ‘Such a beautiful girl We will miss you so much.’
‘My heart is breaking with this news about Montana,’ added a third.
The truck (above) driver Clint Sneddon was not hurt in the crash but said he was ‘an innocent person’ who now had to ‘deal with it’
The truck driver, Clint Sneddon, 45, was not hurt in the crash and is assisting police with their enquiries.
‘They hit me that hard, I got jolted,’ Mr Sneddon told Nine News.
‘They were yelling and screaming.’
He described the crash as ‘terrible’ and said he was ‘an innocent person’ who now had to ‘deal with it’.
Anyone with information about the crash or dashcam footage has been urged to contact police.
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