Classes replaced with prayer after death of student

WASHINGTON — Students at D.C.’s Gonzaga College High School are being told to replace their classes with prayer Monday morning after one of their friends was killed in a tragic crash.

Dominik Pettey — a 17-year-old Potomac, Maryland resident — died Saturday when an SUV crashed into the car he was in, which was disabled on the side of the Beltway.

Pettey was among five people in the car.

The four others were taken to the hospital, and one was seriously injured.

Father Stephen Planning, the Gonzaga president, released a statement, calling Pettey a “beloved student, hockey player and friend to all in his class.”

Planning is asking all students to report directly to St. Aloysius Church instead of going to class so they can pray as one group.

According to Planning, counselors will be on hand Monday and all throughout the week.

Maryland State Police are still investigating the crash.

The driver of the SUV, Margaret Christine Baisley, 24, was also taken to the hospital.

Charges against her are pending as investigators believe she may have been drunk.

Gonzaga College High School is a Catholic college preparatory school for boys located at 19 I St. in Northwest D.C.

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