A 16-year-old Anderson Township girl who drove a car that overturned on Jan 18, killing a passenger, was charged Friday with one count of aggravated vehicular homicide.

        The teen, who is not being named because she is charged as a juvenile, was the driver of a 1996 Mercedes Benz that crashed just before noon, killing 16-year-old Julia Schmidt of Westwood.

Schmidt

        The car had just crested a hill along eastbound Woodruff Road in Anderson Township when the driver lost control of the vehicle.

        Investigators determined that excessive speed was a factor.

        The car went off the left side of the road, striking several shrubs, a utility pole and a sewage-pumping unit before overturning, according to the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office.

        Miss Schmidt, who was a rear-seat passenger, was trapped inside the vehicle and had to be extricated by the Anderson Township Fire and Rescue Department. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

        Another passenger, Drew Armstrong, 17, of Columbia-Tusculum, suffered minor injuries and was treated and released from Mercy Hospital Anderson.

        Police said two of the three occupants of the car were wearing seat belts. Miss Schmidt was not.

        The sheriff's office said neither alcohol nor drugs were factors in the accident.

        The teen driver surrendered to authorities Friday and was released to the custody of her parents pending a Hamilton County Juvenile Court appearance.

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