Teen pleads not guilty to manslaughter

BANGOR – A Glenburn teen pleaded not guilty Friday in Penobscot County Superior Court to manslaughter in the death of a Bangor girl killed in a rollover accident more than one year ago.

John Stillings, 17, also pleaded not guilty during Friday’s arraignment to criminal operating under the influence of intoxicants and failure to remain at the scene of an accident.

The felony charges stem from a Jan. 31, 2004, car accident on Route 221 in Glenburn that killed Jessica Lazore, 16.

The young man, wearing a black shirt and pants and blue tie, appeared in court with leg shackles and listened as Superior Court Justice Jeffrey Hjelm set bail at $10,000 cash or $50,000 surety.

Stillings was on a weekend pass from the Mountain View Youth Development Center in Charleston at the time of the accident. He remains at the center, committed on other charges.

Attorneys on both sides of the case have agreed to schedule a sentencing before May 31, Stillings’ 18th birthday, according to Penobscot County Assistant District Attorney Patrick Larson, who is prosecuting the case.

“There would be no break in custody between Mountain View and the adult system,” he said by phone after Friday’s arraignment.

If he had been convicted of the charges as a juvenile, Stillings could have remained at the youth center until his 21st birthday.

Stillings faces a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison on the manslaughter charge alone.

Lazore died at the scene after she was ejected from the passenger seat of a Nissan Pathfinder allegedly driven by Stillings, whose speed was estimated at 74 mph when the crash occurred.

The vehicle went out of control, struck a telephone pole and rolled over on Route 221. Stillings reportedly fled the accident scene on foot but was located nearby.

Stillings, who does not have a driver’s license, and passenger Krista Hyson, 16, of Glenburn were not seriously injured. The Pathfinder was registered to Hyson’s parents.

Stillings’ blood alcohol level was 0.11 percent 90 minutes after the crash, Larson said.

The legal limit is 0.08 percent for adults and zero for juveniles.

Stillings has been committed off and on to the juvenile correctional facility in Charleston since May 2002 for crimes including car theft and operating under the influence of intoxicants.