Mo. teen guilty in texting-while-driving fatality

PLATTE CITY, Mo. (AP) - A 16-year-old Missouri girl has been sentenced for texting while driving before a traffic accident that killed a woman.

Rachel N. Gannon of Platte City was sentenced Thursday to 48 hours of "shock time," 72 days of house arrest, five years of probation and 300 hours of community service. She also must pay a $200 fine for violating a state law that prohibits texting while driving for those under age 21.

The Kansas City Star reports (http://bit.ly/KBin85 ) the girl pleaded guilty to second-degree involuntary manslaughter in the September 2011 death of 72-year-old Loretta Larimer of Camden Point. Larimer's granddaughter was injured in the accident.

Prosecutors said Gannon was sending texts, looking at her phone and listening to loud music before her car slammed into Larimer's vehicle.

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Information from: The Kansas City Star, http://www.kcstar.com