Tulsa police says evidence shows speed was a factor in deadly crash involving Holland Hall students

Tulsa Police say evidence shows excessive speed was a factor in the crash that killed two Holland Hall students near 91st and Riverside.

Mollie Buffington and Claire Esmond were passengers in that car that went off the road and landed in a creek. The driver is still recovering from her injuries.

Police say the investigation is still ongoing, but they say evidence shows the girls were going well above the posted speed limit of 50mph when they crashed.

A witness told police on the night of the crash that they saw the car speeding by before it left the road and disappeared. Police say the girls were going north on Riverside, when they went off the road at 91st Street, rolled and landed in the creek.

Traffic investigators have been looking at evidence and examining data from the black box in the car. Since the car is a Tesla, police are also looking to see if there's any video of the crash from the car's cameras. Police say they didn't find any evidence in the car of drugs or alcohol.

"So we are looking at speed being a factor, and all of the conditions out there, what was happening, what was the road, what was the weather, what was the lighting. All of these pieces of evidence are going to be put together so then we can figure out what took place out there,” said Captain Richard Meulenberg with Tulsa Police.

The driver of the car was in critical condition after the crash but police say she is recovering and now walking again.

Police say they hope to have a more complete report by next week.

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