North Andover student killed in crash on I-495 in Lawrence

A senior at North Andover High School was killed Thursday night in a crash on I-495 North in Lawrence, according to police and school officials. 

Brenna Caisse, 18, and three other students at the school were driving together at the time of the crash, Principal Chet Jackson wrote in a letter to the school community Friday. 

Caisse and the other students were traveling in a 2005 GMC Envoy “at a high rate of speed,” state police said.

Caisse was driving the Envoy. Traveling in the same direction nearby was a 28-year old man from Du Bois, Pennsylvania, who was driving a 2022 Dodge Ram pickup truck pulling a camper, police said. 

The Envoy “veered” into the center lane, where the Ram was, and made contact with the right side of the camper, according to a preliminary investigation. Caisse lost control of the vehicle, which left the road and hit the curb and guardrail on the eastern side of the highway. It rolled down a steep slope behind the guardrail and burst into flames. 

Caisse was ejected onto the road and was subsequently struck by other oncoming vehicles, police said.

A 17-year-old male student who was traveling with Caisse was later ejected and sustained minor head injuries. A 15-year-old female and a 16-year-old female were traveling in the back seat. They sustained minor injuries, police said. The driver of the pickup truck had “no apparent serious injuries,” police said.

The crash occurred north of Exit 100B. Police responded at about 9:17 p.m. The three surviving occupants of the Envoy were brought to Lawrence General Hospital. The scene was not cleared by authorities until 12:25 a.m. 

“This is a tragedy for the Caisse family, our school, and the North Andover community. Our thoughts are with the Caisse family and the families of the other students involved in the accident,” Jackson wrote. “Brenna had tremendous connections with staff and students at North Andover High School.”