Funeral for teen killed in wreck set for Friday

A funeral will be held Friday for the Highland High School student who was killed in a traffic accident Saturday.

Mesa police say Kelly Tracy and her brother Matthew were on their way to meet the Highland High School band for the Gilbert Days parade about 6:30 a.m. Saturday when they were struck nearly head-on by a driver near Sossaman and Guadalupe roads.

Kelly died at a hospital later that morning. Her brother was treated for non-life-threatening injuries.

Police arrested Manuel Contreras-Galdean, 32, whom they say was driving while impaired. He was charged with one count of manslaughter and one count of aggravated assault. Authorities also placed an immigration hold on him after it was determined that he was in the country illegally.

Tempe police records show that Contreras-Galdean previously was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence on Jan. 27, 2007.

Services will be at 11 a.m. Friday at the City of Grace Church, 655 E. University Drive, Mesa.

A memorial fund has been set up through Washington Mutual and Chase banks to pay for funeral costs.

A team of counselors and social workers were at Highland High on Monday to help the 2,800 students cope with the death.

Friends and relatives have created a small memorial for her outside Highland High. Many have written comments in her honor and sent their condolences to the Tracy family on an online page dedicated to a Facebook group "In loving memory of Kelly Tracy," as well via a www.legacy.com guestbook Web page.

Republic reporter Jeff Javier contributed to this article.

Kelly Tracy, left, was killed in a collision on the way to take part in a parade. Manuel Contreras-Galdean, right, was arrested in the case and booked into jail.