Driver in crash was on Facebook

Published 9:11 am Friday, September 5, 2014

HILLSBORO, N.D. — Traill County authorities say a 20-year-old North Dakota woman killed an elderly Minnesota woman after she rear-end an SUV at 85 mph while browsing Facebook on her cellphone.

Abby Sletten of Hatton, N.D., was charged in court this week with negligent homicide in the death of 89-year-old Phyllis Gordon of Ada in May.

Highway patrol said a search of Sletten’s cellphone determined she was looking at pictures on her Facebook application at the time. There was no evidence that she tried to break before the crash.

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Gordon was a front-seat passenger in the SUV and died at the scene. Her granddaughter and great-granddaughter were also in the SUV but survived their injuries.

Sletten told an officer she had no recollection of the crash. It wasn’t immediately clear if she has an attorney.