An Ohio woman was texting and driving when she hit and killed two 14-year-old girls with her car and critically injured a 15-year-old boy.
Natasha R. Boggs, 24, has been charged with involuntary manslaughter, vehicle homicide, vehicular assault, texting while driving, and tampering with records.
Taylor Galloway and Amber Thoma were hit by a car and killed Memorial Day weekend when they were walking on the side of the road with two seventh-grade boys, one of which was hospitalized with injuries and the other was unscathed, reported the Akron Beacon Journal.
Boggs was driving a 1999 Ford Escort and crossed an edge line, striking the three teens, authorities said.
Investigators were able to determine Boggs was texting and driving, but they could not determine if texting caused her to cross the line, said sheriff office spokesman Lt. Bill Holland.
The tampering-with-records comes from Boggs deleting her texts, said Holland.
One girl died at the scene; the other died at the hospital from her injuries, the Akron Beacon reported.
The 15-year-old boy had a cracked vertebra in his neck, a skull injury, and a broken ankle, according to his classmates.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there is are nine fatalities every day in the United States, and over 1,000 injuries, due to crashes that involve a distracted driver. CDC warns that texting is especially dangerous, since it simultaneously involves three types of distraction: manual, visual, and cognitive. Looking at a cellphone or a navigation device for just 5 seconds while traveling at 55 mph, is enough time to cover the length of a football field.
