LEWISTON – An Auburn teenager has been charged with manslaughter for an accident last spring that killed one of his friends.

Kyle Karkos, 18, will appear in court in December after being charged in a juvenile petition on Oct. 31. A petition filed last week by the Androscoggin County District Attorney also charges him with reckless conduct and driving to endanger.

Karkos was racing his car on a Lewiston street on April 5 when he slammed into a utility pole, instantly killing 18-year-old Kenny Jellison, a fellow student at Edward Little High School, police said.

Karkos was charged as a juvenile because he was 17 at the time of the accident.

Jellison’s mother, Linda Jellison, said she’s had a tough time since her son’s death.

“You close your eyes and all you see is the accident; you see your son laying in the casket,” she said.

On what would have been Kenny Jellison’s 19th birthday in July, friends and family came to the Jellison home to celebrate and took a slice of cake to his grave site.