15-Year-Old Sapulpa Girl Killed In Creek County Crash

Correction: An earlier version of this story misidentified the driver of the SUV.

A 15-year-old Sapulpa girl was killed after being thrown from a sport utility vehicle early Sunday. It happened at 12:25 a.m. on 161st West Avenue just north of 101st Street South in Creek County.

Elaine L. Coffey, 15, was pronounced dead at the scene from head injuries, according to a report by the Oklahoma Highway Patrol. 

Coffey was a Sapulpa athlete, active in both softball and soccer, and she was a member of the Sapulpa High School FFA. She was the only daughter of six children, and her father is an officer with the Sapulpa Police Department.

Troopers say Coffey was a passenger in a 1999 Ford Explorer driven by a 16-year-old Kara L. Brown, also of Sapulpa. The SUV was northbound on 161st West Avenue when it ran off the right side of the roadway. The driver overcorrected, and the Explorer went off the left side of the road.

The SUV continued northbound in some deep ruts with heavy brush and trees scraping the driver's side of the window, according to Trooper Russell Callicoat with the OHP's Creek County detachment.

Coffey, who was not wearing a seat belt, was partially ejected and hit a tree, the trooper said in his report.

Passenger Jennifer R. Lowe, 16, was treated and released at a Tulsa hospital for neck injuries. Another 16-year-old Sapulpa girl riding in the SUV was not injured. 

The driver was in apparently normal condition at the time of the wreck. Driver inexperience is listed as the cause of the crash.