Driver, 16, arrested after two passengers ejected, one killed in Santa Rosa crash

Three Santa Rosa high school girls were enjoying a summer Sunday night with friends at a popular hangout to watch the sunset in the city’s hilly Fountaingrove neighborhood.

After leaving the group shortly after midnight, the three 16-year-olds who attended Maria Carrillo High School hopped into a Lincoln MKZ sedan and quickly things took a deadly turn.

The driver missed the left turn from steep Skyfarm Drive onto Thomas Lake Harris Drive, sending the car up on the sidewalk and over an embankment at the T intersection about 12:20 a.m. Monday morning. The car hit three trees as it spun around before landing along a golf course fairway. The two teenage passengers, who police said likely were not wearing seat belts, were ejected, killing one of them and critically injuring the other.

Both girls were taken to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, where one died and the other was being treated in intensive care Monday for her life-threatening injuries.

Friends identified the girl who died as Taylor Sorg, an upbeat, caring and dedicated athlete.

The driver was arrested on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter and released to her parents. Police said the girl violated the terms of her provisional driver’s license, which prohibits new drivers from driving other teens unless an adult at least 25 is with them.

The driver, who was wearing a seat belt, was not impaired but her speed driving down Skyfarm Drive remains part of the investigation, Santa Rosa police Sgt. Chad Heiser said. She suffered minor injuries and was still inside the car after the crash.

Santa Rosa police withheld the names of the three girls because they are juveniles.

Word of the crash spread through the close-knit community at Maria Carrillo High School, stunning friends, classmates and parents.

“You always hear these stories, about how friends get into car accidents and then you never see them again,” said one friend, Ke’o-lani Weaver, who visited the crash site Monday. “And now it is actually happening to us.”

Sorg was a junior at Maria Carrillo High School, according to her friends, who gathered Monday at the crash site and later at an evening vigil. Although she was identified by friends and softball coaches, police Monday would not confirm that she was the girl who died in the crash.

“She was just so lovely and always kept a smile on her face,” said Kyle Carlson, 16, who had known Sorg since middle school.

Carlson and their group of friends spent a lot of time hanging out at school between classes and on weekends around Fountaingrove. He also had four classes with her last year as sophomores at Maria Carrillo in east Santa Rosa.

“She was always there for me when I needed her, no matter what,” Carlson said, breaking down in tears.

By Monday afternoon, at least a dozen flower arrangements including pink roses and yellow sunflowers had been placed on the sidewalk near the crash site. Notes that said “we love you” and “rest in peace” were taped to vases, and purple and pink balloons were flying at the edge of the road.

Friends and fellow Maria Carrillo classmates were teary-eyed and hugged one another as they exchanged stories about their friends.