3 N.j. Girls Killed In N.c. Crash The Teens Were On Spring Break. Two Friends Were Critically Hurt. The Other Motorist Faces Charges.

KILL DEVIL HILLS, N.C. — Three teenage girlfriends from Burlington County on a spring-break trip to the Outer Banks were killed when their car was slammed broadside by a drunken driver who ran her sport-utility vehicle through a red light, authorities said yesterday.

Two other friends were badly injured in the crash Tuesday in the shadow of the obelisk commemorating the first flight by the Wright brothers in neighboring Kitty Hawk.

Police said the driver of the sport-utility vehicle, Melissa Lynn Marvin, 29, of Kill Devil Hills, had been twice convicted of reckless driving. She was charged Tuesday with driving while impaired, three counts of felony death by motor vehicle, reckless driving, speeding, and running a red light. She was in jail after failing to post $31,000 bail and faces a court hearing tomorrow.

Killed were Angela McGrady and Amanda Geiger, both of Medford, and Megan Blong of Shamong. Allwere 17. McGrady and Blong were juniors at Shawnee High School. Geiger had attended Lenape High School but left this year as a junior.

Injured were Michael Horner, 17, a junior at Shawnee from Shamong, and Shana Lawler, 17, who had lived in Medford and moved to Colington on the Outer Banks in the past year. Both were flown to hospitals on the mainland. Horner underwent surgery to remove his spleen and was in the intensive-care unit with a collapsed lung and possible broken rib at Albemarle Hospital in Elizabeth City, N.C. Lawler was reported in critical condition yesterday at Sentara Hospital in Norfolk, Va.

The bodies of Blong, Geiger and McGrady were flown home yesterday.

The four Burlington County teens had taken a bus over the weekend to spend their spring break with Lawler and her parents on the Outer Banks, a favorite destination this time of year.

Police said the five were in a 1988 Chevrolet Cavalier owned by Lawler's parents, Paul and Brenda, when the crash occurred just before 3 p.m. Tuesday.

With Blong behind the wheel, the teens apparently were headed back to the Lawler house.

While crossing U.S. Route 158, the main north-south thoroughfare on the island, they were hit by the 1989 Mitsubishi Montero driven by Marvin.

Police said Marvin was heading north at 60 m.p.h. in a 50 m.p.h. zone and ran a red light. The sport-utility vehicle slammed into the driver's side of the westbound car.

Police Chief Ray Davis said there were no skid marks, indicating Marvin did not attempt to brake.