ShawneeDispatch.com

A 16-year-old Shawnee girl has been charged with reckless involuntary manslaughter in the death of 15-year-old Haley Vanlerberg.

Jennifer Redenbaugh was driving the car at 2:42 p.m. Jan. 7 on Interstate 35 when she attempted to exit on Johnson Drive. The car flipped off the road. Vanlerberg was killed when she was ejected from the car. Redenbaugh was taken to the hospital.

Redenbaugh was charged on April 12. Assistant District Attorney John Fritz said the court was trying to determine whether Redenbaugh should be tried as an adult or a juvenile. He said the three-month delay in the charge was spent investigating the case.

"We would have got it around the first of April," he said. "We're alleging there's a very high degree of recklessness that led to the fatality. What we pointed out in court yesterday was that she was driving excessively fast on the highway and turned over on an exit ramp."

Redenbaugh crossed three lanes of traffic, Fritz said, before trying to make an exit. He said she was speeding on the highway and on the exit ramp.

"She was going twice the posted speed and went off an exit ramp," he said. "It was 20, we're alleging she was exceeding 40."

Redenbaugh was picked up by police and spent Wednesday night in a juvenile detention facility. She appeared in front of judge Thursday.

"In a juvenile case, the judge reviews the case as soon as possible, and he made a ruling," Fritz said.

District Judge Brenda Cameron agreed to release Redenbaugh to her parents, placed her under house arrest and ordered her to surrender her driver's license, Fritz said.

He said under house arrest, Redenbaugh would be monitored electronically by phone.

"House arrest is up to the specific conditions," he said. "It can accommodate school, but if you're not at school you should be at home," he said.

An involuntary manslaughter charge is classified as a level 5 person felony, which can carry a maximum sentence of 18 to 36 months in a juvenile correctional facility.

"We are still deciding whether we'll seek adult status," Fritz said. "If the judge does not do that, a judge could order group home placement or treatment."