A spokeswoman for Cobb County District Attorney Pat Head said Wednesday that he had not yet seen the police case against a teenager charged in a crash that killed the teen's mother, and cannot say whether the juvenile-court charges will go forward.

"Police made that decision," Kathy Watkins, a spokesman for Head, said of the charges. "We have nothing to do with him being charged at this point."

Head was out of the office Wednesday.

The three-car crash happened April 13 in west Cobb, on Dallas Highway near The Avenue shopping complex.

The Dallas teenager, whose name is not being released because of his age, was charged Tuesday by police in Cobb County Juvenile Court with second-degree vehicular homicide and failure to yield while turning left.

The misdemeanor charges carry a maximum penalty of a year in jail and a $1,000 fine.

Though the solicitor general's office usually prosecutes misdemeanors, the case will be handled by the district attorney's office because the charges are in juvenile court.

Juvenile court officials said Wednesday that since the boy has not been detained by police they have to wait until the complaint comes to them from Cobb police, which could take quite a while.

At the time of last week's crash, the teen was driving a 2002 red Volkswagen Cabriolet eastbound on Dallas Highway and was attempting to turn left onto Old Hamilton Road, witnesses told police. A red Mustang, driven by Karen Flury, 40, of Dallas, hit the Volkswagen on the passenger side door, Cobb Police spokesman Sgt. Dana Pierce said. The Volkswagen then spun around and was hit in the back by a gray Mazda, driven by 19-year-old Joseph Kirkland, of Powder Springs, Pierce said. A box truck, trying to take a left from the other side of intersection, was believed to be blocking the vision of the Volkswagen driver, Pierce said.

The teen's mother, Kimberly Michelle Nichols, 45, of Dallas, was riding in the passenger seat of the Volkswagen and was taken to WellStar Kennestone Hospital after the crash, where she was pronounced dead, police said.

On Tuesday, the boy's father, Michael Mosley, told WSB-TV he believes the charges are unfair and couldn't have come at a worse time.

"It makes no sense for them to try to bring homicide charges on a 16-year-old boy that's making a turn and done it legally. It's a green light. He yielded. That's all he could do," Mosley said.

Mosley could not be reached for comment on Wednesday. An e-mail from the teenager's sister said that the family is not commenting on the charges at this time.

This is at least the second time this year that police have charged a driver after the death of a passenger in an accidental crash.

In January, Alexandra Covett, 17, was charged with second-degree vehicular homicide and failure to maintain lane after her car slid on an icy patch on Stilesboro Road and crashed, killing her friend, Karli Jobling, 18, of Kennesaw.

The solicitor general's office said Wednesday that the charges against Covett are still going forward, but no court date has been set. The case has been assigned to State Court Judge Robert D. Leonard.