“I couldn’t believe it, like it was really him. It was actually really devastating,” said Jackie Tweedie.
She was a friend of Cedillo’s and graduated alongside him.
She showed us his senior yearbook photo and next to it was this message: “Always remember to live while you’re young because you only have one life.”
She describes him as a guy who wanted to light up those around him.
“He’s really nice. He always tried to make people happy. He was always funny. In class he always made things better when you were always sad. He was just a really good kid,” she said.
Police said Cedillo lost control and crashed into a utility pole Friday on Indian River Road in Orange.
Three other teen passengers were inside the car, all girls.
One has since been released from the hospital, while the two others remain hospitalized.
At that crash site now, a reminder of that fatal wreck.
“I thought he would make it out alive. I didn’t think it was that serious so it was really shocking to hear,” said West Haven senior Victoria Lavery. “He was really outgoing and nice and funny and he was really into soccer and so am I, so that was nice.”
Lavery said the school will honor Cedillo by highlighting his life with a message on a school rock later this week.
The Superintendent of West Haven School District said counselors will be made available to students at both West Haven High School and Bailey Middle School.