Family and friends are grieving the death of a 17-year-old girl killed in a crash on Thursday. Another teen is now facing charges for the fatal collision.

A driver and four passengers, all teens from Kelvin High School, were in a vehicle that hit a tree along Wellington Crescent just before 1:00 p.m. on Thursday. 

The Pontiac Torrent went off the road in 1600 block of Wellington.

A 17-year-old female was ejected from the vehicle and pronounced dead at the scene, said police.

Friends and family identified her as Julia Romanow.  

"(She was) a great girl, really caring, very outgoing," said Natasha Patrick, a student.

Two other 17-year-old girls were taken to the hospital after the crash with life-threatening injuries and later upgraded to stable condition.  

A 17-year-old male passenger and the 17-year-old boy who was driving were taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Officers said it does not appear the teen who died was wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash.

Grief counsellors were brought in to help students at Kelvin cope with the loss.

Many people left messages and flowers, including Romanow's mother, at a makeshift memorial set up at the crash site.

David Janzen lives near the location.

Although the posted speed limit is 40 km/h, he said cars sometimes use the winding road like a racetrack.

“Traffic is going by and they’re into accidents all the time,” said Janzen.

Shannon Martin said he was jogging in the area when he came upon the collision.

“There was blood, glass everywhere,” said Martin.

He said he managed to get a blanket to cover Romanow, because he knew there was nothing anybody could do.

“It will haunt me, what I saw. It’s not something you want to take home,” said Martin.

Wellington Crescent, between Academy Road and Kenaston Boulevard, was closed Thursday while police investigated.

Officers said Friday the 17-year-old driver of the car has been arrested.

Police said the boy has been charged with four counts including dangerous operation of a vehicle causing death.

He has been released on a promise to appear in court.
“It appears that speed was definitely a factor,” said Patrol Sgt. Monica Stothers from Winnipeg police.

Police could not say Friday if any factors other than speed contributed to the crash.

One area resident told CTV Winnipeg he spotted a frantic deer in his yard right after the crash occurred.

Anyone with information on Nov. 1 collision on Wellington is asked to call investigators at 204-986-6271.