BETHESDA, Md. — Candles flickered in the night air Sunday and the tears fell for a Walt Whitman High School senior and his parents, who were killed in a Saturday night car crash. The boy’s sister, a Whitman sophomore, was critically injured.

Classmates and teachers remembered 18-year-old Thomas Buarque De Macedo as a tall, confident math whiz who was a leading member of the debate team.

“Shakespeare in his poetry and plays often talked about an untimely death, about a young person that left us far too soon … and indeed Tommy has left us far too soon,” said Dr. Alan Goodwin, principal of Walt Whitman High School.

Also killed in the crash on River Road, not far from the high school, were Tommy’s parents, 52-year-old Michael Buarque De Macedo 53-year-old and Allessandra M Buarque De Macedo.

A family member says Tommy’s sister, Helena, is stable and they’re hopeful for her recovery.