Beloved NJ student athlete dies after car sinks in Route 1 horror

🚨22-year-old former high school and college basketball player killed in Route 1 crash

🚨Rickey Boone Jr's. SUV left roadway and became submerged in water

🚨His former team at Mercer called Rickey 'a beam of light'

LAWRENCE TOWNSHIP(Mercer) — A 22-year-old former Mercer County high school and college basketball player drove off Route 1 and into a watery viaduct late Thursday night.

Rickey Boone Jr., 22, of West Windsor, lost control of his 2012 Honda CRV just after 11 p.m., went off the highway near the entrance to the Quaker Bridge Mall and fell into the body of water, Interim Police Chief Kevin Reading said.

The Trenton Fire Department Water Rescue Team located the submerged SUV and found Rickey was the only person inside. He was pronounced dead at the crash scene.

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Remembering a young NJ athlete

Rickey was a 2022 graduate of West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South and attended Mercer County Community College, according to his LinkedIn page. He played basketball at both schools. He was also a security guard employed by the state of New Jersey.

“The impact he made in his short time will never fade. Those who had the honor of meeting Rickey all would agree he was beam of light who carried positivity with him everywhere. He was one of the kindest souls who will be missed deeply," the college team said on its Facebook page.

It was the first fatal crash in Lawrence this year and the ninth in Mercer County, according to State Police records.

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