Deaf woman agreed to ill-fated car trip 'to fit in'

Kathleen Mere Wilson was a young deaf woman determined to make sense of the world.

The former Kelston Girls' special education centre student, who went by the name "Karleena", had "a spark to her personality" and was focused on learning to make the right choices in life, principal David Foster told the Herald.

But on Friday night when the 25-year-old got into a stolen Nissan Pulsar - that crashed into an Onehunga home, killing her - she was probably swept up in the moment.

"Our kids sometimes do stuff because other kids tell them it's cool," Mr Foster said. "It seems cool, it sounds like a good idea, it's what everyone else is doing and 'I want to be accepted so I'll follow along with the crowd'."

Police yesterday released Ms Wilson's name after tracking down next of kin.

Relatives were too upset to talk, but some paid tribute on social networking sites.

Rosina Wilson, who described herself as a "birth sister", posted "RIP my little sister Karleena" on Facebook.

"RIP my sister Kathleen. I love you sister forever ... I want to catch up with you so much now you have passed away," wrote Valerie Kahui.

Danielle Rocque, 17, and Tayla Fiaola, 16, - who were critically injured in the crash - were yesterday in a serious condition at Auckland City Hospital.

Mr Foster said Ms Wilson's death appeared to have been triggered by "some potentially unwise choices".

"That is a risk we acutely feel for our deaf kids [in the community]," he said.

Mr Foster said his staff were "pretty carved up" about the death, as the special education centre was a tight-knit community and students stayed in contact after graduating.

Meanwhile police are still hunting the driver who bolted in a getaway car minutes after smashing through a metal barrier, into the Arthur St home.

Detective Stephen Meade, of the Glen Innes CIB, said his staff were "boxing on" with information received from the public and had several lines of inquiry.

The Police Association yesterday said it wanted tougher penalties for those who flee from police, but Mr Broad said there were already harsh penalties, and these needed to be enforced.

Police Minister Judith Collins backed police and encouraged them to continuing doing their job.

"Police are not going to stand by and let dangerous drivers take over the road and put innocent lives at risk."

- additional reporting by Derek Cheng