By AP/KWMU
St. Louis, MO – A woman who graduated from Hazelwood Central High School last year has died in Iraq.
The Army says LaVena Johnson, of Florissant, died of non-combat injuries. She was 19 years old. The Army is investigating.
Johnson is now the first female soldier from Missouri to die in the war.
Johnson was assigned to the 129th Corps Support Battalion based at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. She would have turned 20 next Wednesday.
At Hazelwood Central, she was an honor roll student who had straight A's her senior year; she played the violin in the school's orchestra; and was a member of a school group that focused on diversity issues.