Two young people died in a Montgomery County car accident hours after ringing in the New Year.

The single-vehicle crash happened just before 3 a.m. on Sunday, Jan. 1. Roderick Eugene Brice II, 22, was driving a white 2007 Chevy TrailBlazer full of passengers westbound on Jones Bridge Road near Lancaster Drive in Bethesda.

He apparently lost control of the vehicle, drove up onto the sidewalk and through a fence before slamming to a stop into a tree.

Front seat passenger Nicholas Scott Clayton, 20, and back seat passenger Kaitlin Marie Gallagher, 18, both died at the scene of the accident.

Clayton’s Rockville home had been condemned a few days before Christmas. His mother had died a few months ago, and his father was out of town at the time of the accident.

Gallagher, whose address is unknown, also went by KeKe Karlsson. She was in her second trimester of pregnancy.

Brice sustained injuries in the Maryland car crash, as did his two other passengers, 18-year-old Conor Hayes and 19-year-old Kevin Russel.

Montgomery County Police found empty beer cans in the vehicle, but pointed out that the presence of the cans does not necessarily mean Brice was drunk. They have not yet released his blood alcohol level at the time of the accident.

The three surviving passengers in the vehicle were wearing seat belts, but it was not immediately known if Clayton or Gallagher were wearing theirs.

Police are still investigating the accident.

The Silver Spring personal injury attorneys at Nickelsporn & Lundin offer their deepest condolences to the families of Clayton and Gallagher, as well as those injured.