Former Miss New Jersey 2013, Cara McCollum, 24, Dies Following Car Accident

A photo posted by Cara McCollum (@caramccollum_tv) on Feb 10, 2016 at 6:01am PST

MStars News has learned that former beauty queen, Miss New Jersey 2013, Cara McCollum died at the young age of 24 after a she was involved in a car accident last week.

According to US Magazine, McCollum died on Monday morning, February 22 after fighting for her life at a local hospital since February 15. McCollum, who went on to compete in the 2014 Miss America pageant was driving a 2014 Ford Mustang convertible and swerved off the road, hitting several trees, last week. She was not wearing a seat belt at the time of her car accident.

At exactly this time last year, I was preparing to give up my crown to the new #MissNewJersey. Can't wait to see who will join the #sisterhood tonight and begin what is truly the experience of a lifetime!  A photo posted by Cara McCollum (@caramccollum_tv) on Jun 13, 2015 at 6:30pm PDT

McCollum was a native of Arkansas, and moved to New Jersey to attend Princeton University. So far no funeral services have been released.

In a Facebook post, McCollum's family revealed that the beauty queen donated her organs before she died.

 The full statement read: "Thank you all for this tremendous outpouring of love and support for our Cara. We can't begin to tell you how much your prayers have meant to us in this incredibly difficult time.

Cara passed away this morning. Her family was with her in the operating room. She died peacefully at 4:31am. Before she died, Cara made the selfless decision to donate her organs. At this very moment, she is saving lives as an organ donor.

"We've prayed constantly for a miracle, and we believe God has answered our prayers. Although it's not the miracle that we first envisioned, it's a miracle nonetheless.

In the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years. Please accept our sincerest thanks for your heartfelt prayers. We all will miss her now that she's gone."

So sad. Our thoughts and prayers are with the McCollum family at this time of grief. RIP.