CANAL WINCHESTER, Ohio -- A teenager who died in a car crash Thursday is being remembered.
Olaju "OJ" Green, 18, of Canal Winchester was driving eastbound on Winchester Pike east of Ebright Road at about 10:13 a.m.
The Franklin County sheriff's office said Green drove off the left side of the road and struck a tree.
At the crash location, a memorial of flowers, cards and notes is growing in Green's memory.
"I'm just speechless right now. I can't believe he's gone," said Royce Calloway, a friend of Green.
Green was a linebacker and captain of the Canal Winchester football team, known for mentoring the new members of the team.
"When I got to the high school, OJ took me under his wing. He showed me different things," said Alex Pickens. "Me and him loved art. We sketched together. We'd be in the art room talking and he'd show me different things."
Green has just graduated and was preparing to attend Otterbein College in the fall.
"I think he was excited for Otterbein. He was excited to go to college and finally be on his own," Calloway said. "He was just, like, the kind of guy you could get along with anytime…If you met him on the street and he said, 'Hi,' you'd say, 'Oh, yeah. That's one of my friends I would keep for the rest of my life."
"He was the kind of person that would help you out. He was there for you when you needed him," said Kelly Kunkler, Green's friend.
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