Huntersville teen pleads guilty in fatal crash

CHARLOTTE, NC (AP) — A Huntersville teenager has pleaded
guilty to a crash that killed his friend after a night of inhaling
fumes from a pressurized duster can to get high.

Mark Tanner McMahon was sentenced to six months in jail Thursday
after pleading guilty to felony death by vehicle.

Police say McMahon told them he and 17-year-old Donald Francis
McDermott had been inhaling cans of compressed air before the April
2010 crash.

Police say the pair had inhaled fumes from cans of dust remover
spray, smoked marijuana and drank beer. Leaving to get more spray
cans, police say a vehicle driven by McMahon went off the road at
around 4 a.m., hit a tree, bounced off a column and slammed into a
parked car.

In court, the 19-year-old McMahon apologized to McDermott’s
family.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)