Community mourns Suffield girl killed in crash

Seventeen-year-old Brianna Mailloux died on Thursday after police said she was struck by a vehicle just north of Exit 35 on Interstate 91 in Windsor. The circumstances surrounding her death are unknown at this time, and police are seeking witnesses who may have information.

Dozens of people gathered to honor her life at the First Church of Christ on High Street at 7 p.m. on Saturday evening.

Just as the sun was setting, families with teens filed in through the front doors of the church.

Reverend Bridget Fidler of the First Church of Christ said it is important for them to have a safe place for young people to come and remember Brianna.

"As a girl, who worked really hard to be good at the things that she did, whose relationships were important to her, I think her faith was important to her in how she sort of tried to understand where God was in the midst of her life and to make sense of the things that don't always make sense as a teenager," said Reverend Fidler.

Both Revered Fidler and Reverend Diann Bailey told Channel 3 that the school provided grief counselors this morning for students and that they plan to keep the doors of the church for those who seek support.

"That's what church does," said Reverend Diann Bailey. "We grieve, and we're a community."

Friends of the Mailloux family told Channel 3 that the teen was the Captain of the Suffield Lacrosse Team.

"She was a great girl," said Reverend Fidler. "Very athletic, just had a real desire to understand the world and connect with people."

Again, State Police are encouraging those who may have witnessed the crash that killed Mailloux to come forward.