By Janice Morse, The Cincinnati Enquirer
and Sue Kiesewetter, Enquirer contributor

Police say speeding may have been a factor in a pair of unrelated crashes over the weekend that killed two 17-year-old drivers, hurt two teenage passengers and plunged their suburban high schools into grief Monday.

With the crashes that killed Justin M. Lewis, a Lakota West High School senior, and Caleb Haggard, a Butler County Career/Technology Center student, four teens have been killed and at least 10 others injured in Butler County since Oct. 1.

Justin was driving a vehicle that crashed Friday about 8:20 p.m. on Union Centre Boulevard in West Chester Township. The vehicle went off the road, struck a drainage culvert and rolled over.

Justin, who was not wearing a seat belt, was ejected. A helicopter flew him to University Hospital, where he died Saturday. Police say speed was a factor, but released no estimate of how fast his vehicle was traveling.

At Lakota West High School, Justin was remembered as a student with a knack for writing.

"He had a creative flair and he was very diligent about his work,'' said Pam Williams, his creative writing teacher. "Whenever he shared his pieces, students always listened. He had a way of putting words together."

A student's journal entry, "The Empty Chair," will be read in class today and dedicated to Justin, Williams said.

Meanwhile, the Butler County Career/Technology Center was reeling after learning that a Saturday crash killed Caleb Haggard and hurt two others.

Caleb was killed after a pickup truck he was driving westbound on Millikin Road in Liberty Township went left of center and struck a ditch.

Monte Mayer, Butler County sheriff's spokesman, said investigators believe Caleb was exceeding the 55-mph speed limit, but no estimate of the speed was available Monday.

Caleb's passengers and schoolmates, Timothy Scott Strickler, 18; and Benjamin McCollum, 16, were injured. Benjamin's injuries did not require hospitalization, but Strickler was seriously hurt.

A helicopter flew him to University Hospital.

"Today, we've ridden an emotional roller coaster,'' said Bob Thompson, principal at the career center, where the library was converted into a counseling center Monday. "We're sad. We're hurt. We're grieving. Yet there's been laughter as stories were told about the young men."

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Reporter Jennifer Edwards contributed to this story. E-mail jmorse@enquirer.com and suek@infionline.net