TAHLEQUAH, Okla. — The Sequoyah High School community is mourning the loss of senior softball player Holli Carnes, who died in a car accident on Highway 62 Tuesday morning, according to the Oklahoma Highway Patrol.
The school announced her passing Tuesday night, calling it a profound loss for the entire Tahlequah community.
Holli was 18 years old and just beginning her senior year at Sequoyah High. A family friend said Holli spent much of her academic and athletic career at Tahlequah before transferring to Sequoyah last year.
According to a family friend, Holli's mother teaches at Woodall Elementary, located near where the head-on collision took place. Her father is a sergeant with the Sequoyah Police Department and has served there for two decades.
The other driver, a 70-year-old, was transported by Life Flight to a Tulsa-area hospital. OHP said what led up to the collision remains under investigation.
Lt. Mark Southall of the Oklahoma Highway Patrol spoke about the crash.
"It's heartbreaking. Our troopers have kids these age. I myself have kids this age. It's heartbreaking it's what my biggest fears are and unfortunately this family is having to go through it. All we can do as the Oklahoma Highway Patrol again is to make sure that they have all the facts so that we can do the best investigation possible for them. And maybe we can prevent from something like this happening again," Southall said.
A family friend also said Holli was an aunt to her niece and nephew. The family is asking for the community's support during this time.
Counseling and support services will be available this week for students, faculty, and staff who need them during this difficult time.
A GoFundMe page has been set up for the family and can be found here.
A friend of the family tells me that you can make checks payable to 'Claudia Carnes' and bring them to your nearest TTCU bank.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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