A Princeton teenager has waived a preliminary hearing in Mercer County Circuit Court on charges stemming from an accident last October that claimed the life of a Lineville resident.
Seventeen-year-old Elijah Charles Mandich of Princeton appeared Tuesday before Mercer County Associate Judge Matthew Krohn. The case, with a felony charge of involuntary manslaughter in the first degree, has been bound over to Division One of Mercer County Circuit Court. Mandich is to appear for arraignment in court before Presiding Circuit Judge Jack Peace Wednesday, June 13th. Bond continues at $25,000. A request to reduce the amount of bond was denied last month by the associate circuit court.
The October 8th crash took the life of 18-year-old Saige Boswell of Lineville.
A probable cause statement filed in March accuses Mandich of driving a pickup truck southbound, at excessive speed, while allegedly traveling in the northbound lane of Highway 65 three miles north of Princeton. At the accident location, authorities have said a highway sign warned of a no passing zone.
A state troopers’ report further accuses Mandich of using a cellular device that allegedly distracted him from safely operating the pickup. Mandich was injured in that head-on crash eight months ago and taken to an Iowa hospital.
