Family members say they're devastated after a teenager was killed in a crash involving a stolen vehicle.

Police say the four teenagers stole a car in Southport Thursday evening. Investigators say they headed to Bridgeport, where they were involved in an armed robbery, stealing $19 and other items from a person.

Police say the teens tried to make their getaway and that officers pursued the car. The teenage driver crashed on Route 8 just north of the Route 25 split. The 15-year-old driver was arrested.

Corbin Cooper, 18, of Bridgeport, died at the hospital. The other two teens were hospitalized with serious injuries.

Cooper's family says his death came just six weeks after he made a miraculous recovery from a near-fatal shooting.

News 12 met with about a dozen close family members, including the mother and grandmother of Cooper, who they described as a good-hearted young man who adored his family but was "too eager to follow the crowd." They say that's how he ended up getting shot outside the PT Barnum Housing complex in April, surviving thanks to a good Samaritan who rushed him to the hospital.

Cooper's grandmother says he was a follower, not a leader -- and he paid for that quality with his life.

Family members say they're still in the process of making funeral arrangements. They say they want people to remember Cooper as "a good kid who needed better role models."