The teenage driver in an April 24, 2024 car crash that killed Coupeville student Tara Halterman was charged last week, according to court documents.

Prosecutors charged the 17-year-old Oak Harbor girl in Island County Juvenile Court on Feb. 26 with a single count of vehicular homicide. Under the charge, the girl is not accused of being impaired at the time of the accident. She is accused of driving in a reckless manner and/or with disregard for the safety of others.

In Island County Superior Monday, a deputy prosecutor said the decision to charge the girl was delayed in the case because of the time it took the State Patrol to complete the report. In addition, the prosecution had been waiting on the results of a toxicology test on the driver. Court documents do not indicate whether the results were returned or what they were.

The girl’s arraignment was scheduled for March 17.

The report by Detective Tim Yzaguirre with the Washington State Patrol states that the girl, who was 16 years old at the time, was speeding on Crosby Road and failed to negotiate a curve near the intersection with Airline Way. The car left the roadway, traveling sideways and rolling in a field.

Halterman wasn’t wearing a seatbelt and was ejected from the car, sustaining fatal injuries, the report states. The driver and a second passenger were wearing seatbelts and were not seriously injured.

The detective concluded that the girl was speeding at more than 70 mph at the curve, which has a posted recommended speed of 25 mph. The report states that she never braked prior to entering the curve nor at any time leading up to the collision.

The detective’s conclusions were based on recordings from the car’s event data recorder as well as analysis of the scene, the report states.

The driver told a trooper that she tried to avoid an oil spot on the roadway and entered the oncoming lane of traffic to avoid it. She said she saw another car approaching, which caused her to overcorrect back into her lane and to lose control.

If convicted of the charge, the girl could face between 15 and 36 weeks in a juvenile detention facility under the standard sentencing range for juvenile offenders.

The News-Times generally does not name juvenile defendants in cases that do not involve accusations of murder.