PORTLAND, Ore. — A third former Ida B. Wells High School student has died from injuries sustained in a June 25 car crash following a police chase with a stolen vehicle, police announced Monday. The other two former students were in the same car and died at the scene in Southeast Portland.
An initial police news release after the crash did not name the three occupants of the stolen car, but the two killed at the scene were identified the following week in a letter sent to families from Ida B. Wells Principal Ayesha Coning.
Gresham police attempted to stop a vehicle just after midnight near the area of Southeast 159th Avenue and Division Street, but the driver of the vehicle did not stop and led police on a chase. The chase ended when the driver crashed the vehicle into another vehicle and a utility pole near Southeast 139th Avenue and Southeast Division Street. Police later learned that the vehicle involved in the chase had been stolen.
The driver of the other vehicle in the crash suffered minor injuries.
The two former Ida B. Wells students who died at the scene were Dylan Brasky and Jayden Rolon-Ekis, according to Coning's letter. Coning wrote that Brasky and Rolon-Ekis were former sophomores who had recently transferred to Portland Community College. Police also later confirmed their identities and said they were both 16 years old.
The third person in the vehicle, 18-year-old Cole "CJ" Johnson, a recent Ida B. Wells graduate, suffered life-threatening injuries and was hospitalized. Police announced on July 15 that he had died at the hospital from his injuries.
"Our hearts go out to Dylan and Jayden's families and friends, and we continue to wish CJ a full recovery," Coning wrote in the letter, which was sent weeks before Johnson's death. She wrote that the counseling team would be available for students and staff impacted by the news once the new school year starts.
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