By James Queally and Mark Mueller/The Star-Ledger
EDISON — The Edison teenager who caused a wrong-way car crash that claimed three lives, including his own, early Tuesday was attempting to kill himself and had written a suicide note on his body, law enforcement sources told The Star-Ledger Wednesday.
Srijan Saha, a 15-year-old sophomore at John P. Stevens High School in Edison, was driving the wrong way on Route 27 North when he struck another vehicle head-on, killing himself, 46-year-old Mohammed Zia and 36-year-old Ali Behzad, according to the sources and classmates who requested anonymity.
Edison Police Chief Thomas Bryan and township school officials declined to comment and attempts to reach the Saha family were unsuccessful. In a statement late Wednesday night, Acting Middlesex Prosecutor Andrew Carey confirmed the crash was being investigated as a "suicide-homicide," but did not to identify the teenage driver or provide additional details.
Calls and e-mails to a prosecutor’s office spokesman were not returned Wednesday night.
The sources did not say what Saha wrote in the note, but one official said the message was scrawled on the boy’s arm.
The sources asked not to be identified because they were not authorized to discuss the case.
On Tuesday, Bryan said the 15-year-old took his parents’ 1995 Honda Civic without permission and headed the wrong-way down Route 27 North before colliding with a 2011 Nissan Altima driven by Zia. The teenager veered into oncoming traffic shortly before the fatal wreck, according to Carey.
The teenager and Behzad were pronounced dead at the scene, according to Carey. Zia died at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunwick a short time later.
The two men, who were brothers-in-law and Edison residents, had gone out for a late night cup of coffee, relatives said. Each is survived by three children.
The Route 27 crash was one of two fatal collisions that left four dead and two others critically injured in Edison this week.
Twelve hours earlier, Sister Nora Ashe, a 65-year-old nun and high school teacher from Brooklyn, N.Y., was killed in a two-car collision on Woodbridge Avenue, police said. The victim’s sister, Patricia Ashe, and sister-in-law, Kathleen Windram were also critically injured in the wreck, and remained hospitalized in fair condition last night, according to Peter Haigney, a spokesman for Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital.
Saha was interested in rap music and high-end cars, and considered himself an aspiring musician, according to his Facebook page. The website is littered with pictures of car engines modified for street racing and other photos of the teen popping wheelies on a bicycle.
Saha was mourned with a moment of silence in several classrooms Wednesday, though a school-wide memorial was not held, students said. Classmates said rumors regarding the boy’s death were swirling around the school’s hallways all afternoon.
"We’ve been talking about him all day," said Pri Pulipaka, a 17-year-old student at the school.
Friends of Saha said the boy’s twin interests in motor vehicles and drawing sometimes melded, as the 15-year-old would often sketch luxury cars in his spare time.
"He was a really good artist," said 16-year-old James Miceli.
The series of crashes left Bryan struggling to recall a deadlier string of collisions in his 30 years as an Edison cop and continued to haunt township officials Wednesday.
"It’s such a sad and tragic situation," Edison Mayor Antonia Ricigliano said. "It’s beyond belief."
NJ.com Staff Writer Brian Amaral contributed to this report.
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