BY LINDLEY ESTES

Family and friends left mementos Monday at the side of Garrisonville Road where Stefany Parnell and Vincent Anthony Anguiano-Ayala died in an early morning car crash Saturday.

Most of the flowers were purple in memory of Stefany, a 15-year-old freshman at North Stafford High School. Purple was her favorite color.

There were also crosses and flowers for Ayala, 23, as well as a flag with the letter "V."

About 3 a.m. Saturday, an eastbound Ford Taurus in which they were passengers ran off of Garrisonville Road east of Green Acre Drive, went down an embankment and struck two trees.

Taylor Flanagan and Miranda Nowak, students at North Stafford High, were among the dozens who visited the site Monday afternoon. They brought a card and flowers.

Taylor, a freshman, said nearly every person she saw in the hall at school Monday was wearing purple or some memorial shirt.

The color campaign was organized over Twitter this weekend, said Stafford schools spokeswoman Valerie Cottongim.

Taylor said that Monday was a tough day. "I was in shock when I heard," she said. "I saw her on Friday. You never know what's going to happen."

Taylor described Stefany as outgoing and popular.

"Even if you didn't know her face you knew her name," she said.

Miranda said she met Stefany at a birthday party in July and they talked to each other in the halls at school.

North Stafford High had counselors at school to talk with students Monday, as did Rodney Thompson Middle School, which Stefany attended last year. Funeral arrangements were not available.

Ayala was described in his obituary as a music lover and a sports fan who was close to his family.

Ayala's family will receive visitors at 1 p.m. with a funeral at 2 p.m. Wednesday at Mount Ararat Baptist Church, which he attended. Burial will be private.

Three other passengers were injured in the crash.

Tony Dotson, 18 years old, is in critical care at VCU Medical Center in Richmond.

Nick Maas, a 15-year-old freshman at North Stafford, and 18-year-old Alicia Marie Robillard were treated at Mary Washington Hospital in Fredericksburg.

The 18-year-old driver, Alex Christopher Hablas, was being held at the Rappahannock Regional Jail on two counts of involuntary manslaughter and one count each of reckless driving and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

Police investigating the crash have said that speed played a role in the wreck, but alcohol did not.

Saturday's crash happened at the same spot where Kenneth Ray "KJ" Rowe Jr., a 19-year-old athlete at Mountain View High School, died in 2009 in a single-vehicle crash. He was a passenger in the car. The driver in that incident was sentenced to 21 months in prison for involuntary manslaughter and driving while intoxicated.

Lindley Estes: 540/735-1976
Email: lestes@freelancestar.com