One-car crash kills Maple Park teen

A Maple Park teenager died Monday after the car she was driving veered off Route 38 into a ditch in Virgil Township, police said.

Jennifer C. Flaherty, 19, was pronounced dead shortly afterward at Delnor-Community Hospital in Geneva where she was taken with "significant head injuries," said Kane County Coroner Chuck West.

Flaherty was eastbound on Route 38 around 11:50 a.m. when, for unknown reasons, the 2002 Ford Focus SE she was driving left the roadway about 500 feet west of Meredith Road and rolled over.

Flaherty was thrown from the vehicle during the rollover.

Kane County sheriff's Lt. Pat Gengler said the accident is under investigation but does not appear to be related to the intersection of Route 38 and Meredith Road.

In July, St. Charles police officer Vaughn Olson was fatally injured in an accident at the intersection. Then, on Nov. 9, an 18-year-old Bradley, Ill., woman was killed in a crash near the same intersection.

"It looks like a different set of circumstances than the previous accidents we've had out here," Gengler said of Monday's accident, noting it happened west of the intersection and involved only one vehicle.

Flaherty was a 2007 graduate of Kaneland High School and had studied nursing, said Kaneland Superintendent Charles McCormick.

McCormick said school staff will assess how best to help students deal with the tragedy.

"It's a tremendous loss for us, especially a graduate so recent," he said. "I'm sure she still has friends here at the high school."

Flaherty was alone at the time of the crash. No other injuries were reported.

An autopsy had not been scheduled as of Monday afternoon, the coroner said.

The accident shut down Route 38 for several hours, but the road had reopened by midafternoon Monday.