An Idaho Falls man is charged with vehicular manslaughter for an accident at about 2:55 p.m. May 9 that killed a 61-year-old woman from Terreton.

Octavio Daniel Ortega Avila, 22, was driving a 1996 GMC Sierra pickup and had a head-on collision with a Kia driven by Doris Arlean Prine at 5th East and 97th North off Lewisville Highway, according to court records. Avila was ejected from his pickup and transported to a hospital, while Prine was declared deceased at 3:09 p.m. that day by Idaho Falls Paramedics who arrived at the scene.

Vehicular manslaughter carries a maximum prison sentence of 15 years, a $15,000 fine, a $5,000 compensatory fine, a driver’s license suspension of one to five years and restitution costs.

A witness to the accident told Bonneville County Sheriff’s deputies that the pickup ran off the road, overcorrected and drove into incoming traffic and hit the Kia.

Prine was on the phone connected to her vehicle via Bluetooth talking with her husband just before the collision. Her husband heard her say “Oh, sn n n” before hearing a loud bang, according to court documents.

Avila allegedly admitted to deputies that he smoked marijuana earlier that day. He said he may also have fallen asleep at the wheel.

According to the criminal complaint, prosecutors filed two alternatives to the felony charge of vehicular manslaughter. The first alternative is for felony gross negligence, where he fell asleep and caused her death. That penalty carries up to 10 years imprisonment, a $10,000 fine and restitution costs. The second alternative charges Avila with gross negligence causing a death not amounting to a felony that is punishable by one year in jail, a $2,000 fine, a $5,000 compensatory fine and restitution costs.

Avila is free on $75,000 bail, according to court records. His preliminary hearing has been rescheduled for 1 p.m. Sept. 12 before Magistrate Judge Tawnya Rawlings in the Bonneville County Courthouse.