LA PLATA, Md. (Jan. 24, 2008)—A 17-year-old Brandywine girl was charged on Monday with reckless driving and negligent driving as a result of the Charles County Sheriff’s Office’s investigation of a single-vehicle crash that killed a 15-year-old Thomas Stone High School student on November 28, 2007.
Police say the girl was driving a 2002 Chevrolet Cavalier west on Poplar Hill Road when she lost control and crossed the center line. The vehicle skidded sideways and its passenger side collided with several trees on the left side of the roadway. The front passenger, Stephanie Weir, 15, was pronounced dead at the scene. She was a 10th grade student at Thomas Stone High School.
The driver—a senior at Thomas Stone—and another passenger, a 16-year-old boy in 11th grade at North Point High School, were flown by a Maryland State Police helicopter to Prince George’s Hospital Center’s Shock Trauma Unit. The driver was in critical condition but was eventually released from the hospital. The injured passenger was released from the hospital the same day of the incident. All three teens live in the Charles County area of Brandywine.
The Sheriff’s Office later determined the driver was speeding at the time of the crash. The driver was not wearing her seatbelt but the other passengers were wearing theirs. The charges were issued after the Sheriff’s Office reviewed the case with the Charles County State’s Attorney’s Office.
Cpl. D. Belfield of the Traffic Operations Unit investigated.
RELATED INFORMATION:
Brandywine Teen Dead In Single Car Crash, November 28, 2007
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