State police: Fourth person killed in fiery crash on Merritt Parkway was Fairfield University student

A Fairfield University student has been positively identified as the fourth person killed in a fiery crash on the Merritt Parkway last week.

State police have confirmed the fourth person killed in a crash on the Merritt Parkway in Stratford last week was a Fairfield University student on his way home for the summer break.

Troopers were informed Tuesday by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner that 21-year-old Alexander Dennis was killed in a fiery, wrong-way crash last Thursday, according to Connecticut State Police.

State police said Dennis’ injuries were so severe that they were not immediately able to positively identify him following the crash, which was reported on the southbound side of the Merritt Parkway in the early morning hours. Three other people were killed in the crash.

All four victims were pronounced dead at the scene.

State police said they received multiple reports of a wrong-way driver just before the vehicle, a 2016 Honda CR-V being driven by Dennis north in the southbound lanes, collided with a 2010 Chrysler Town and Country that was heading south in the right lane. The Honda became engulfed in flames following the crash.

“Alex had just completed his junior year here on campus and was traveling home to Massachusetts for the summer when the car accident occurred,” Fairfield University wrote in a statement last week.

The driver of the minivan has been identified as 65-year-old Steven Rowland and the passengers were identified as 80-year-old Thomas Lucian Vitale and 81-year-old Olga Vitale, all of Easton, according to state police.

Fairfield University officials said they plan to celebrate Dennis’ life at a gathering in the fall when students return to campus.

The crash remains under investigation.