LUDLOW — The victim of a fatal car crash in Ludlow early Saturday has been identified as Jessica Godek, a 23-year-old from South Hadley, according to the Hampden County district attorney’s office.
The crash occurred at around 2:30 a.m. on West Street and remains under investigation, said James Leydon, a spokesman for the district attorney’s office.
Godek drifted off the road in a white 2015 Chevy Cruze and struck a tree trunk, according to Ludlow Police Lt. Mike Brennan. The crash occurred near the intersection of Brook Street, Brennan said.
No other vehicles or passengers are believed to have been involved in the crash, according to Brennan.
The Ludlow Fire Department responded to the incident. According to Brennan, CPR was performed on Godek in an ambulance that left the scene for Baystate Medical Center in Springfield.
Godek died at the hospital at about 3:14 a.m., Brennan said.
Godek’s boss at Playful Minds Learning Center, where she was recently promoted to lead teacher, described her in a Facebook post as dedicated and talented, a thoughtful person and “the glue that held everything together even on our toughest days.
“Jessica’s absence will be noticed across the entire Playful Minds community, especially to her friends and all the children she has worked with these past years,” said Paige Thompson-Westcott, program director, in a letter posted on the South Hadley preschool and afterschool program’s Facebook page.
Godek had worked at Playful Minds since January 2015, according to the post. It said she hoped to finish her bachelor’s degree and open her own school in the future.
In the post, Thompson-Westcott said the children at Playful Minds will make a “‘good-bye’ book” for the Godek family.