A St. Albans teen has been charged with negligent operation of a vehicle, death resulting, after the car he was driving on Nov. 22 on I-89 in Bolton slammed into an Essex woman exiting her car on the side of the road, killing her.

Owen Benoit, 19, of St. Albans Town was traveling on I-89 South in a BMW at 80 MPH, a speed that was far greater than what was appropriate for the wet road conditions at the time, state police said. Road conditions may have been a contributing factor but were not the primary cause of his loss of control of his vehicle. His car then departed the roadway and struck the motor vehicle that Josephine Buckley, 34, of Essex Town was attempting to exit after she had previously slid off the road. Buckley, a VT Dept. of Public Safety employee, died as a result of internal injuries sustained when she was struck by Benoit’s vehicle.

Benoit came to the St Albans Barracks on December 7 and was issued a citation to answer a charge of “negligent operation with death resulting. The arraignment for Benoit has been scheduled for February 1.