MILFORD — An SUV full of friends rushing to see a July Fourth fireworks display slammed into a utility pole and careered into a parked car Sunday night, killing a Milford teenager just steps from her home, police said.
Jackie Gray — an ebullient, funny 19-year-old college student who loved to dance — was one of six who piled into the Ford Explorer after work at JJ’s Ice Cream Shoppe in Upton, where they all worked.
“When she came in, she always had her smile on and was always joking around,’’ said Taylor Nasuti, 16, who met Gray when they started work at JJ’s on the same day last April. “We’re like a family there.’’
As they made their way toward the fireworks display around 10:10 p.m., the driver lost control of the vehicle on Congress Street, Milford Police Department Deputy Chief James Heron said.
Believing the brakes had failed, the driver leapt from the moving vehicle as others scrambled to do the same, Heron said. It was not clear whether Gray, who was in the back seat, jumped or was thrown from the vehicle, Heron said.
Gray’s brother, who was also in the SUV, ran to the family’s home two doors away to alert their parents, Heron said.
Outside 161 Congress St., the SUV struck Joan Camelli’s van. From inside, Camelli heard an explosion: the transformer on the pole the SUV hit had blown up and was on fire. Camelli, 75, a caregiver for the home’s owner, ran outside barefoot.
“Jackie was lying in the road,’’ Camelli said, her voice breaking. “I couldn’t believe what I saw.’’
Gray’s mother was at her daughter’s side, Camelli said.
“She was there giving her CPR. Everybody was very upset,’’ Camelli said.
A witness, who asked that his name not be used because he did not know those involved, said he was watching fireworks nearby and ran to the scene when he heard an explosion.
When he came upon the chaotic scene, the car’s occupants described the car being unable to brake. Passengers — all roughly college aged, he said — described leaping from the moving vehicle.
“There were 30 people out there in minutes,’’ the man said; Police arrived quickly, and began treating Gray immediately.
Gray was flown to UMass Memorial Medical Center, but succumbed to what police described as traumatic injuries. Nobody else was seriously injured.
Gray, a rising sophomore at Quinnipiac University and a dancer on the IceCats, a cheer squad for the school’s ice hockey team, was a 2015 Milford High School graduate.
“They’re a very close family. The kids are always out in the yard with their parents,’’ Camelli said. “My heart breaks for them.’’
Her minivan sustained rear-end damage, but she believes her car likely saved more lives.
“I just thank God that my car was there to stop them. Otherwise, they would have gone down the embankment and right into the house next door. God only knows what would have happened then.’’
Heron said that police are still investigating the cause of the crash, including the possibility of mechanical failure. Such crashes are rare, Heron said, but there were no skid marks on the road that would indicate the car’s brakes had engaged. It was not clear how much data the 2002 Explorer’s computer would reveal about the crash.
“The driver said she might have been going a little fast, but does not appear to be a high-speed situation,’’ Heron said.
A neighbor placed a pot of sunflowers and pink tulips in front of the crash site Monday afternoon.
Janice Allegrezza, a neighbor on Congress Street, laid a bouquet of red forever daisies.
JJ’s, a popular seasonal ice cream parlor in Upton, was closed on Monday because of the crash. “We’re sending our thoughts and prayers to the Gray family,’’ the shop wrote on Facebook.
At JJ’s, Gray liked to wait on customers at the window, Nasuti said, though it didn’t stop her from bolting to the back to dance when the right song came on the radio.
They bonded over their shared love of hip-hop, ballet, and other forms of competitive dance, and Gray showed Nasuti some of her IceCats moves.
“She had a passion for it,’’ Nasuti said, fighting back tears. “She talked about it like it was her life.’’
The teens who work at the shop planned to meet up Monday night to console one another, she said. Gray’s brother had started working there two weeks ago, she said.
“She was very funny. She had a big smile. She was just a good person overall, “ Nasuti said.
Several dozen friends and relatives shared remembrances of Gray online, describing a joyful, funny friend with a passion for dancing.
“Absolutely devastating,’’ “None of this feels real,’’ “you were taken too soon,’’ they wrote, each adding the hashtag #PrayForJackie.
“Our hearts [are] broken as we mourn the loss of one of our own,’’ the IceCats posted on Twitter. “We love you, Jackie.’’
Nestor Ramos can be reached at nestor.ramos@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @NestorARamos. Kathy McCabe can be reached at katherine.mccabe@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @GlobeKMcCabe.
