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State police investigated a fatal crash Monday morning on I-81 South in Cicero. This 2007 Toyota Scion is registered to Kameron Evans, who was driving the car at the time of the crash, state police said. His friend and front-seat passenger, Sean Jewett, also 16, of Whitesboro, was killed in the crash.

(Provided by New York State Police)

State police investigate a fatal crash Monday morning on I-81 South in Cicero.

CICERO, N.Y. -- State police have identified the passenger killed in a three-car crash Monday morning on Interstate 81 in Cicero as a 16-year-old from Oneida County

Sean Jewett, of Whitesboro, was riding in the front seat of his friend's 2007 Toyota Scion when it crashed at 6:31 a.m. Monday on I-81 South, just north of the Route 481 exit in the town of Cicero, state Trooper Jack Keller said.

At least two people -- a woman jogging nearby who jumped over a fence and a local firefighter driving on I-81 South -- tried to help Jewett after the crash, Keller said. CPR was performed, but Jewett, who was partially ejected through a back window, did not survive, troopers said.

It was still dark outside when Jewett and his friend, 16-year-old Kameron V. Evans, were traveling north on I-81 near Driver's Village in Cicero. They were not near their home in Whitesboro, state police said.

For some reason -- still unknown to police -- Evans drove off the left shoulder of I-81 North and through a grassy median, Keller said. His car flipped onto its side and into the path of a 2008 Saab SUV heading south on I-81, the trooper said.

The driver of the Saab, 51-year-old Robert G. Gardner, was traveling south on I-81 when he saw the car coming at him, troopers said. Gardner was unable to avoid striking the car on its driver's side, which caused the Scion to spin into a 2012 Ford van, driven by Donald R. Patton Jr., 44, of Theresa.

Ambulances took Jewett, Evans and Gardner to Upstate University Hospital in Syracuse.

Jewett was pronounced dead at the hospital.

Evans, of 44 Beechnut Terrace in Whitesboro, was in critical condition Monday afternoon.

Gardner, of 72 Camic Road in West Monroe, suffered multiple leg fractures and is in stable condition.

Patton was not injured in the crash, state police said.

Interstate 81 South was closed for several hours while the state police Troop D Collision Reconstruction Unit investigated the crash scene. The investigation is continuing.

State police said they have not yet been able to talk to Evans, who suffered severe head trauma and internal injuries.

"We are still trying to determine why they were in this area at the time of the crash," Keller said.

The investigation so far has found no evidence of alcohol, Keller said. Investigators plan to look at the teens' cell phones to see if they had sent text messages or called anyone prior to the crash.

Investigators will not know if speed or other factors contributed to the crash until they complete the reconstruction of the crash, Keller said.

An autopsy is scheduled to be performed this week.

Jewett and Evans attended school together at Whitesboro High School.

"Words cannot express the sadness we feel for the students and families involved in this tragic accident," Whitesboro Central School District Superintendent Brian K. Bellair said in a statement Monday evening. "This is an unimaginable situation, one we must face together as an entire school community to help each other grieve and heal."

The school district will offer grief counseling to anyone who needs it starting Tuesday.

State police asked that anyone who had recently heard from the teens or knew anything about their whereabouts before the crash to call investigators at (315) 455-2826.