The wreck was on a highway north of Mountain Grove. The Highway Patrol says the teens' vehicle ran off the highway at nearly 90 mph, skidded into an oncoming car in the other lane, and flipped down an embankment.  Three people in McGowan's vehicle died and she and another teen were injured.  The driver of the other car also was injured.

Circuit Judge John Moody planned to put McGowan on probation on Wednesday. At the sentencing hearing, she told the judge that she'd changed her mind.  Moody allowed her to withdraw the plea and proceed to trial.

Jeanne Spangler, the mother of Debbie Akers, one of the teens who died in the crash, says the judge warned McGowan that she would serve prison time if a jury convicts her and recommends a prison sentence. McGowan and her new attorney said they'd take that gamble.

Spangler is glad. She and other relatives were upset that McGowan was going to get probation. She says McGowan has shown no remorse and lives as if nothing happened three summers ago.

No trial date is set.  The case was moved from Wright County to Ozark County, and John Russo, an assistant prosecuting attorney for Ozark County, was appointed to try to case in place of the Wright County prosecutor's office.  McGowan could get as much as a seven-year prison sentence for each of the three counts of involuntary manslaughter and two counts of second-degree assault.
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BACKGROUND AND PAST REPORTS

Three teens die in car accident