A devastating car crash took the lives of three recent high school graduates who were on their way home from watching their alma mater’s basketball game.

Ava Wolfe, Jayden Butterfield and Violet Corrado were passengers in a 2025 Toyota Corolla that was heading southbound along US highway 54 in western Missouri at around 8pm on Friday when the unidentified 49-year-old driver drove past a stop sign and hit a GMC Terrain heading eastbound, the Miami Herald reports.

The force of the impact caused the Corolla to travel off the road, strike a fence and then a tree, according to KSDK.

The driver of the SUV, a 38-year-old man who has not yet been publicly identified, also died in the collision – which occurred two miles south of the small town of Walker.

Both vehicles were a total loss, with officials noting that only four of the 10 people involved in the collision were wearing seatbelts.

In addition to the deceased,  four passengers inside the SUV – two 16-year-old girls from Osceola, an 18-year-old woman and a 39-year-old woman – suffered injuries ranging from minor to serious and the 38-year-old driver of the Corolla was also seriously injured.

They were all taken to local hospitals, as emergency responders pronounced Wolfe, Butterfield and Corrado dead just before 11pm.

Police did not identify the victims, but the Climax Springs school district announced on Facebook that Wolfe, Butterfield and Corrado were all recent graduates.

‘Ava and Jayden were both beloved employees of the district, who dedicated their time and talent to our students each day,’ it added.

‘As students, all of these individuals left a legacy within our school.’

Corrado had planned to become a high school English teacher, according to a senior spotlight posted in May, and just one day before the crash, Wolfe bought a Ford Bronco, a local dealership wrote.

‘Just yesterday, Ava was here, filled with joy and excitement as she drove home in her Bronco,’ the Maples Ford said.

‘To now be facing this heartbreaking loss is truly unimaginable.’

In another Facebook post from February 2022, Ashley Butterfield wrote about her feelings watching her daughter play basketball for the high school for the last time.

‘Watching these girls grow up, do what they love, laughing and cheering each other through tough games and always lifting each other up has come to an end,’ she wrote.

‘Many basketball camps, summer leagues, hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of hours in practice, after game meals and pregame talks… It’s all over. I just blinked and it’s over.

‘Jayden, you are one hell of an athlete and I’m so lucky I’ve been fortunate enough to follow you around all these years,’ she posted.

‘I would do it all over and over again.’

The district noted it will host counselors for students and staff on Monday and Tuesday.