Teen charged with drunken driving in fatal St. Charles crash

Lou Cook visits the site where 17-year-old Cameron Godee was killed after the car he was riding in crashed into a tree on Royal Fox Drive in St. Charles early Sunday morning. The driver of the car, Onofrio Lorusso, has been charged with drunken driving. (Photo by Sandy Bressner – sbressner@kcchronicle.com)

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ST. CHARLES – Members of the St. Charles High School Rugby Team on Sunday were supposed to celebrating the end of their season.

Instead, they were mourning one of their own – Cameron Godee, a starter on the team who graduated from St. Charles East High School last Sunday.

Godee, 17, of West Chicago, was a passenger in a car that crashed into two trees in the 3100 block of Royal Fox Drive in St. Charles at 3:22 a.m. Sunday. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

"He was a hard worker," said head coach Jay Crawford. "I was really proud of the kid."

The driver of the 2005 Ford Explorer, Onofrio Lorusso, 18, of Wayne, has been charged with driving while under the influence of alcohol, unlawful consumption of alcohol by a minor and failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident.

Neighbors reported that the car was going between 60 mph and 80 mph prior to the accident.

Godee had been playing in the club for three years and became a starter this year, Crawford said. His season came to an abrupt halt after he broke his leg in April in a league match against Plainfield.

"He wanted to stay in the game," Crawford said. "He was a tough kid."

St. Charles East students were consoling each other Sunday afternoon at the accident scene.

"Cameron got along with everybody," said St. Charles East student Shannon Whittaker. "He had such a great personality."

Lorusso, who also just graduated from St. Charles East, was listed in critical condition Sunday at Delnor Hospital.

His brother, Fergie Villanueva, said he visited him at the hospital earlier in the day.

"He's doing OK," Villanueva said. "He has stitches on his upper lip. He split his lip really bad. He doesn't remember anything."

Villanueva said they were at their cousin's graduation party in Wayne Saturday night when Lorusso left the party.

"He said he was just going to hang out with some friends," Villanueva said. "I told him, if you are going to be in St. Charles, you really need to be careful. Don't be a St. Charles statistic."

St. Charles East student Chelsea Mertz, a passenger in the vehicle, was airlifted to Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove and was listed in critical condition Sunday.

A condition report was not available for another passenger, St. Charles East student Colton Kumerow, who was transported to Central DuPage Hospital in Winfield.

St. Charles police are investigating the accident.