The Renaissance High student was Cynthia Madrigal, the Coroner's Office confirmed Saturday.
Cynthia, a 16-year-old Freedom girl, was involved in a two-vehicle collision on San Andreas Road about two miles south of her high school. The two-lane road she was driving on is a main route from her school to Watsonville, where many of the students live.
Her death was immediately mourned.
"She was so young," Shauna Mathis wrote on Watsonville Patch's Facebook page.
"God bless her family, she went way too soon," Gabriella Chavez Ortiz shared on Facebook.
"I am really sad when there is a life that's taken from us," Patch reader Joe Williams wrote. "What a shame to lose this beautiful person. My God be with her family as she enters the gate of Heaven.
Cynthia's Volkswagen Beetle and Chevy pickup collided on San Andreas near Sunset Beach Road.
Saturday, people paid homage to Cynthia at the spot where she was killed. People left flowers and candles in the dirt on the side of the road. Friends took a moment there, as others who stopped appeared to be working through how the deadly crash occurred.
"Such a heartbreaker," David H. Perez commented on Patch. "I hope the other driver that caused this now realizes the consequences of what a moment of inattention behind the wheel can have."
The California Highway Patrol is still investigating the circumstances of the fatal accident. The pickup involved was driven by a 67-year-old Watsonville man, who suffered minor injuries.
, a continuation school in the Pajaro Valley Unified School District, will have grief counselors available for students and staff on Monday, according to Principal Artemisa Cortez.
Cynthia's death comes two weeks after Brandon Gil, a 21-year-old Watsonville man, was fatally stabbed outside a downtown bar. One commenter on Facebook said the two families are connected: Cynthia's cousin dated Gil.
"This family has been thru (sic) way too much," Connie Garcia wrote.
