PHOENIX — A 16-year-old girl was killed in a car crash hours into the new year, Phoenix police say.
Police said the driver, 24-year-old Kelvin Allen, was impaired when he lost control of his SUV on 16th Street near Roeser Road around 3 a.m. Wednesday. There were six or seven people inside the car, police said.
Allen told police he passed a slower vehicle, and when he merged back into the original lane, the back end of his car hit the front end of the other vehicle.
The SUV left the roadway and crashed into a fence, and a backseat passenger, 16-year-old Kaniesha Sutton, was ejected. Police said she hadn't been wearing a seatbelt.
Sutton was pronounced dead at the scene. The other passengers suffered minor injuries.
Police said Allen could not provide any details about the vehicle he says he hit and neither could the other passengers in Allen's car.
He was booked into the Maricopa County Jail on charges of manslaughter, aggravated assault and endangerment.
Police are still investigating the crash.
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