One of Paige Smith's closest friends said the 21-year-old wasn't a heavy drinker, and she normally went out of her way to avoid driving when she did drink.

That made the Tuesday morning crash that killed Smith and two other young women and critically injured a fourth all the more heart-wrenching for family members and friends, said Kayln Kramer, 21, of Bethel Park.

“If she were to drink, she would always call a close friend to pick her up or ask for somewhere to stay,” Kramer said.

Kramer's phone didn't ring Tuesday morning.

Police said Smith was behind the wheel of a Mitsubishi Outlander when the sport utility vehicle veered off Bethel Park's Library Road about 1 a.m. and struck a utility pole. Police said the car had been speeding, and the force of the impact sheared the utility pole and brought down wires that entangled the SUV. Smith's license had been suspended.

Snapchat video taken before the crash showed that at least three of the young women, including Smith, had been drinking in the hours leading up to it. Bethel Park police Chief Timothy O'Connor said the crash “underscores that when speed is a factor and there's alcohol in the car, it ends in tragedy.”

Briana Herwig, 23, of McDonald and Heather Camisa, 17, of Finleyville were killed in the crash. Brooke Molnar was thrown from the SUV and survived. She remains at UPMC Mercy in Uptown.

Smith leaves behind a daughter, Adrianna June. She will be 4 in October.

“She is her mother's twin. Those two were so infatuated with each other,” Kramer said.

Herwig, who posted the Snapshot video to her account on the social media application, can be seen laughing and singing and drinking from a bottle of liquor in the back seat of the SUV.

That was Herwig's image, her cousin Ashley Brown said, but that's not who she was.

“To the world, she was a ‘party girl.' Within our family, she was a different person,” said Brown of Elyria, Ohio. “Our grandparents and aunt still sent her a card and a $5 check for every holiday — Halloween, Christmas, St. Patrick's Day, you name it. Bianca looked forward to it every holiday. She enjoyed feeling loved.”

Brown recalled how her cousin still loved Disney and went to Disney on Ice shows every year. She looked forward to marrying and having kids one day. She also was an extreme couponer.

“She could walk into a store with coupons and walk out with 40 free rolls of toilet paper, 20 free toothbrushes, and somehow the store would owe her money,” Brown said.

Brown said her cousin also had a boisterous and wild side.

“She lived a very fast-paced life. She always assumed she'd have time to clean up her act,” she said.

Heather Camisa, 17, was the youngest in the SUV. Police said they believe the crash happened not long after the other three picked up Camisa, who was entering her senior year at Ringgold High School in Monongahela.

Erica Self, 17, who had been friends with Camisa since second grade, said Camisa joined Smith, Herwig and Molnar after getting off work at Dorido's restaurant in South Park at 11 p.m.

“(Camisa) was so full of life,” said Self, who is upset about online comments some people have made about the crash victims because of their actions in the Snapchat video.

“People are judging these girls. ... They were just young women having fun, doing what they thought was fun,” Self said. “Nobody should die for that.”

Another friend, Tyler Summerfield, 19, echoed Self's comments and said Camisa had been like a sister to him.

“She was wild, but she was down to earth. She was kind,” Summerfield said.

Ringgold Principal Jason Minniti said in a letter to parents that school officials “were saddened to learn about the untimely passing” of Camisa. The school district made grief counselors available at the middle school Wednesday and planned to do so on Thursday.

Investigators are still working to reconstruct the last hours of the women's lives, including where they might have been drinking, Allegheny County police Lt. Andrew Schurman said.

Schurman said police have spoken with Molnar, the lone survivor, but declined to provide details.

The families of each of the victims have set up GoFundMe pages to help pay for funeral costs.

Megan Guza is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach her at 412-380-8519, mguza@tribweb.com or via Twitter @meganguzaTrib.

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