BATON ROUGE — Two people were killed in a car crash along Highland Road late Tuesday night.

The East Baton Rouge Parish Coroner's Office said they responded to the single-vehicle crash near Gardere Lane around 12:20 a.m. on Wednesday, but Baton Rouge Police responded about 30 minutes earlier. 

Police said that a 2011 Infinity G37 struck a tree, leaving driver 20-year-old Dakota Carter and passenger 21-year-old Justin Howard dead. 

Investigators said the car was driving at a high rate of speed along Highland before crossing lanes and striking the tree

"Both occupants had to be extricated from the vehicle," officials said.