Long Island High School Student Killed In Upstate Crash

A St. Anthony's High School student was killed in a single-car crash upstate after he fell asleep at the wheel Saturday morning, State Police said.

According to police, 17-year-old Anthony W. Pagano, of Melville, was driving a 2017 Lincoln southbound in the center lane of Interstate 87 in the town of Colonie just outside Albany at about 5:24 a.m. when the car left the roadway off the right shoulder, struck a tree and then caught fire.

A teenage passenger in the car, who was also sleeping at the time of the crash, was not injured. Police did not release the passenger's name. Both teens were wearing seatbelts.

St. Anthony's principal Brother Gary Cregan shared news of Pagano's death on the South Huntington school's Facebook page Sunday.

"Death is never easy, but the death of a young person is particularly heartbreaking and difficult to accept," Cregan wrote. "As Roman Catholics, we must rely on our faith to give us strength in the face of tragedy, and to help us understand why a young man on the verge of adulthood would be taken from us far too soon."

Pagano played on the varsity baseball team at St. Anthony's.

"They're lost right now," St. Anthony's baseball coach John Phelan told Eyewitness News of Pagano's teammates. "This was their teammate, their friend."

Find details on funeral services for Pagano here.

Photo via Facebook/St. Anthony's High School