HARTVILLE, Mo. -- A teenager from Mountain Grove is charged for a two-vehicle crash that killed three of her friends and injured another friend and the driver of a second vehicle.  Wright County Prosecuting Attorney Larry Tyrrell charged Britta McGowan on Wednesday, four months after the wreck that occurred as the five teens were on their way to Springfield to shop for school clothes.

  The crash was in mid-afternoon on Highway E, two miles north of Norwood, on Aug. 14.  The teens' vehicle ran off the road, skidded into the opposite lane and was hit by an oncoming vehicle.  Both vehicles flipped down the side of an embankment.  

   In his charging statement, Tyrrell said the teens' vehicle was going at least 88mph in a 55mph zone.  He said that meets Missouri's standard for criminal negligence.  McGowan, the 18-year-old driver of the teens' car, is charged with three counts of involuntary manslaughter and two counts of second-degree assault.  Under state law, if she's convicted, McGowan could receive up to a four-year prison sentence for each count of involuntary manslaughter and up to a seven-year prison sentence for each county of second-degree assault.

   Passengers Debbie Akers, 16, David Allred, 14, and Casey Morris, 16, died when they were ejected through the rear window.  Akers and Allred lived in Mountain Grove and Morris lived in Hartville.  McGowan suffered moderate injuries and a fourth passenger, Randy Mooneyham, 18, of Mountain Grove suffered serious injuries.   The driver of the other car,  Genevieve Ellis, 59, of Mountain Grove had serious injuries.  The Missouri State Highway Patrol said Ellis was the only one of the six people who wore a seat belt.