An incoming junior at New Trier High School died early Wednesday morning after falling onto CTA tracks in Evanston. 

16-year-old Samantha Cerrone was out for a walk with a friend during a sleepover when the pair decided to walk along the Purple Line tracks. 

Just north of the Central Street station, Cerrone stumbled and fell on the track’s third rail, which is electrified with 600 volts to propel trains — an amount that, according to the CTA, is almost always lethal. 

According to police Cmdr. Ryan Glew, the accident happened around 2:30 a.m. Cerrone’s friend attempted to pull her off the rail and sustained non-life-threatening injuries. 

Cerrone was taken to Evanston Hospital, where she was pronounced dead around an hour later, Glew said. The family hosted a visitation for the Winnetka resident on Saturday.

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