Updated 2:17 p.m.: Two local men have been charged with second-degree involuntary manslaughter in the 2009 death of a Houston teenager, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol.
Benjamin L. Crawford, 26, and Matthew C. Mayfield, 23, both of Houston, face felony charges in the death of David Foster. He died in a single-car accident May 31, 2009.
Crawford was arrested at 5:22 p.m. Wednesday and taken to the Texas County Jail in lieu of $100,000 bond. Lt. Melissa Dunn said Mayfield has not yet been arrested.
In a probable cause statement, the patrol alleges Crawford and Mayfield purchased alcohol and provided it to minors at 110 Elm Street in Houston. The patrol said Foster, 18, consumed alcohol at the residence, and his fatal accident occurred after leaving.
The probable cause statement – dated June 1, 2009 – alleges Crawford and Mayfield “allowed David Stuart Foster to consume alcohol and to operate a motor vehicle.”
The accident, which occurred at 11:50 p.m., was one mile east of Houston on Highway B. According to Tpr. Curtis Hubbs, Foster was fatally injured when his 1977 Corvette ran off the right side of the roadway, overcorrected and traveled off the left side of the roadway before striking a rock embankment nearly head-on. The vehicle then traveled back across the roadway and came to a rest on its right side.
Hubbs said Foster was not wearing his seat belt. He was pronounced dead at Texas County Memorial Hospital.
Foster graduated from Houston High School just two weeks earlier. He was a four-year member of the baseball team and played football two seasons.