2 dead in Southern State Parkway car accident, fire

VALLEY STREAM, N.Y. (WABC) -- Two 19-year-olds were killed on Long Island Tuesday morning when the driver of the car they were in lost control.

Driver Joseph Kelly and passenger Justin Johnson, both of Laurelton, died trapped inside the car when it crashed and caught fire.

"Not my son," mom Paula Johnson said. "I'm telling the story about somebody else. It's not my son."

The wreck happened when Kelly apparently failed to negotiate a turn just after 12:30 a.m.

He hit a bridge abutment at the Franklin Avenue overpass, east of Exit 15 on the Southern State Parkway, before the car burst into flames.

Authorities say the victims were burned beyond recognition.

"I wouldn't even be able to recognize him," Paula Johnson said. "That is heart wrenching. Nobody should ever have to go through this. Nobody."

It was a surreal day for all those who knew the two teens. Friends and family stood outside the family home in disbelief.

Authorities say the pair was part of a four-car caravan on their way to go bowling in Baldwin. Friends say fate determined who got in each car, with Kimberly Clyne riding two cars behind.

"I saw the car blowing up," she said. "I heard it like three or four times, over and over again."

Police say that so far, alcohol does not appear to be a factor. But speed might be.

"They were just so, so sweet," family friend Margaret Sharpe said. "No drugs, no drinking, just had a love for life. And a love for cars."

Paula said her last words to her son were to be careful.

"And if nothing else comes from it,I want to encourage the young people, listen to your parents," she said.

The eastbound lanes of the Southern State Parkway were closed for six hours, reopening shortly before 7 a.m.

The accident remains under investigation, although a police spokesman says no criminality is suspected.