Updated: Community mourns death of Belleville East student who was “love and light”
A senior at Belleville East High School died Sunday after her car rolled over on a country road near Freeburg, authorities said.
Maddison Rodriguez, 18, of Park Avenue, Freeburg, was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident on Old Freeburg Road at 11:15 a.m., St. Clair County Coroner Calvin Dye Sr. said.
Rodriguez was known as Maddi to family and friends and was a beloved member of the school’s softball team.
“We do have a support plan in place,” Belleville East Principal Josh Lane said Monday morning. “We’re providing resources to students and staff, got some assistance from Belleville West to bring in extra social work and counseling assistance, provide some areas for students to go and to share or to go through the process however they might need.”
He said the school is working to comfort students as much as possible during this difficult time.
“We’re just trying to work with them individually and make sure that they know that they have people and resources here to help them, and we will do anything we can to support everybody within our school community at such a hard time,” Lane said.
An outpouring of support for Rodriguez’s teammates, friends and family was posted Sunday and Monday.
“Our hearts are completely shattered with the loss of our senior Maddi,” the Belleville East softball team said in a Facebook post. “She was love and light and everything good in this world and her smile could light up a room. She loved so BIG - everyone felt loved by Maddi and everyone loved her. Rest east (sic) sweet girl. Please pray for Maddi’s family, friends, and softball family. This loss is incomprehensible.”
Lane said the school will continue to help students as they grieve in the coming weeks.
“We want to respect the family’s privacy at such a difficult time,” Lane said. “We just want to make sure that the school, the students particularly, but our staff and everyone who’s impacted that we’ll do anything we can to help them.”
Details of accident
The accident happened in the 3500 block of Old Freeburg Road near Turf Lane, authorities said.
Freeburg Police Chief Mike Schutzenhofer said it was reported at 10:08 a.m. , and officers arrived on scene at 10:15 a.m.
“The officers found one vehicle rolled over with a person trapped,” Schutzenhofer said.
Asked what may have caused the teen’s car to roll over, Schutzenhofer said “it appears she was driving too fast.” He said there were yellow markings on the roadway where the vehicle skidded and went into a slide, struck a ditch and rolled over, Schutzenhofer said.
Memorial services for Maddison Rodriguez will be held on Friday and Saturday at Zion Lutheran Church in Belleville. On Friday, a visitation will be held at 4 p.m., with a celebration of life ceremony at 7:30 p.m. Another visitation will be held on Saturday at 9 a.m. and the funeral will start 11 a.m.
This story was originally published February 14, 2022 at 11:11 AM.
