Wilton motorcyclist dies in North Jay crash

NORTH JAY – A Wilton woman was killed Friday night when she was thrown from a motorcycle and struck a pole on Woodman Hill Road.

Jennifer Lowe Smith, 22, died aboard the LifeFlight of Maine helicopter before it could depart, according to Jay police Chief Larry White.

Smith, the daughter of Dr. James S. Smith and Janice Smith, was riding a 2003 Yamaha motorcycle she had purchased just weeks before. She was not wearing a helmet.

Smith was traveling west on a steep section of Woodman Hill Road about 11 p.m. Friday when she failed to negotiate a sharp curve and her bike swerved off the road, throwing her into a metal mailbox post, White said.

Speed was not a factor, he said. Smith graduated from Thomas College in Waterville in May with a degree in criminal justice and intended to enter the field of law enforcement, according to a family friend.