Two men were arrested last week and 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, of Houston, and Matthew C. Mayfield, 23, of Springfield, 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. last Wednesday and taken to the Texas County Jail, where he later posted $100,000 bond, according to Lt. Melissa Dunn of the Texas County Sheriff’s Department. Mayfield
Taney County authorities said Mayfield arrived at their sheriff’s office with a bail bondsman at 11:09 a.m. last Thursday. He was booked and posted $100,000 bond.
In a probable cause statement, the patrol alleges Crawford and Mayfield purchased alcohol and provided it to minors at 110 Elm St. 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.