Crash Takes Girl's Life - Teenager strikes tree the day before turning 18

Patrice Magnier of Montauk was killed after apparently losing control of her car and striking a tree in Manorville on Monday, the night before her 18th birthday.

Ms. Magnier had graduated from East Hampton High School in June. With her was a passenger, Hannah Hennings of Montauk, who will be a senior at the high school this fall. Ms. Hennings was taken to Brookhaven Memorial Hospital to be treated for a head injury.

The two young women were returning from a day of "shopping UpIsland," Ms. Hennings's father, John Hennings, said yesterday morning.

At about 9:30 p.m. Ms. Magnier was headed south on County Road 111, about half a mile south of the 7-Eleven store, when the car traveled across the two northbound lanes and struck a tree, police said. As of yesterday, police were not sure what caused Ms. Magnier's car to cross the oncoming lanes.

"There is some indication that speed was involved," said Lt. Gerard Gagante of the Suffolk County Police Department.

Ms. Hennings, 16, was conscious when police and ambulance crews arrived, according to Lieutenant Gagante.

Mr. Hennings said his daughter had a gash on the back of her head and a concussion, but that she was in stable condition in the intensive care unit. He said she had several tests at the hospital and would most likely have an M.R.I. before being released - perhaps as early as today or tomorrow.

"She was very lucky. She got a second chance," Mr. Hennings said. "Our heart goes out to Patrice's family. She will be sorely missed. We are severely shaken by the accident."

Mr. Hennings said yesterday morning that his daughter had not yet been told that Ms. Magnier had died in the crash, but that he and Ms. Hennings's mother, Laura Smith of Montauk, were preparing to do so later. "We are working up the strength to tell her," he said.

Mr. Hennings said Ms. Magnier and his daughter had been friends since they were toddlers.

About 25 East Hampton High School students visited Ms. Hennings at the Brookhaven hospital on Tuesday.

Ms. Hennings has been working part time in Montauk at the Breakwater Cafe and at Island to Island, a retail store, for the summer. She lives in Montauk with her mother, sister, and brother. Mr. Hennings lives in East Hampton.

Ms. Magnier was working at the Guild Hall box office in East Hampton for the summer. She had plans to start pre-law studies at Briarcliff College in Patchogue in the fall. She alternated between living with her grandparents and her mother, all of whom live in Montauk, according to Mr. Hennings.

Raymond Gualtieri, the East Hampton School District superintendent, said that counselors came to the school on Tuesday to talk with summer school students who wanted to discuss the accident.

In a school board meeting on Tuesday night, Mr. Gualtieri called the accident a "parent's worst nightmare." He asked for a moment of silence.