This photo of Sanjeeve Sharma was posted to Facebook after the Surrey teen was killed in a car accident Monday. Nearly 300 friends and family gathered at a Surrey elementary school Tuesday night to mourn a teen who was killed in an automobile accident Monday.

Sanjeeve Sharma, 15, was killed when the car in which he was a passenger struck an SUV before smashing into a light standard at 82nd Avenue and 128th Street.

The novice driver, who was 16, cannot be named because he is a minor. He and another passenger were taken to hospital with minor injuries and released. The occupants of the SUV were treated for minor injuries.

Alcohol and speed are being considered factors in the collision, Surrey RCMP said in a news release, adding that anyone who witnessed the crash should call Const. Glen Croutch at 604-599-0502.

Sharma's mother, Sara, was inconsolable at Tuesday night's memorial.

"Why did you go before me," she sobbed Tuesday night. "I'll trade this space any time with you. Come on down, I'll go up there. You're supposed to bury me, not me bury you."

The night the teen died, his mother had planned to pick him up from the gym. Instead, she recalled, he told her he already had a ride.

Clutching the teddy bear that Sanjeeve had had since birth, Sanjeeve's father, Sanjay, said someone needs to pay for what happened to his son.

But the bitterness of their son's tragic death was eased somewhat by the crowd of people who turned out at the candlelight vigil outside Newton Elementary.

"The crowd here is filling up this whole parking lot," Sanjay Sharma said. "I can't even imagine what Friday would be like. It just shows how many people loved him."

A funeral will be held Friday afternoon at Riverside Funeral Home in Delta.