A 20-year-old woman from Umatilla, Oregon, died early Sunday morning after the car she was riding in rolled over on U.S. Highway 12 about six miles west of Walla Walla, leaving two other occupants injured. Rayvonie K. Patterson was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash, and she later died at Providence St. Mary Medical Center.
The crash happened at about 4:55 a.m. Sunday on eastbound Highway 12 near milepost 327, according to the East Oregonian. A 2006 Honda Civic left the roadway, struck an embankment and overturned, a sequence of events first detailed by Elkhorn Media Group. The vehicle carried a driver and two passengers, and no other vehicles were involved in the wreck, per the Tri-City Herald.
Driver and Second Passenger Taken to Hospital
The driver, 19-year-old Syrus K. Peppinger of Othello, and a second passenger, 20-year-old Kaiomi M. Morris of Pasco, were also injured in the crash. Both were transported by ambulance to Providence St. Mary Medical Center, the same hospital where Patterson later died, according to the East Oregonian's report. Unlike Patterson, both Peppinger and Morris were wearing seatbelts, the station's report notes, citing the Washington State Patrol.
Troopers indicated that drugs or alcohol were involved in the crash, though the precise cause remains under investigation, per the same account. Nonstop Local News reported that officials suspect drugs or alcohol played a role, though officials have not detailed what substances may have been involved or how that determination was reached.
Conflicting Reports on Charges
Accounts of the driver's legal exposure diverge. Elkhorn Media Group reported that charges against the driver are pending, while YourSourceOne described the situation differently, reporting that the 19-year-old Othello man could face criminal charges. Neither account specifies what charges might be filed or when a decision could come.
Part of a Dangerous Stretch of Highway 12
The crash adds to a grim recent history on this stretch of Highway 12 through Walla Walla County. Less than a year earlier, three people, including a 6-month-old child, were killed when two vehicles collided on U.S. 12 in east Walla Walla County, according to the Union-Bulletin.
Statewide, vehicle occupant fatalities have made up a significant share of Washington's traffic deaths, according to the Washington Traffic Safety Commission. The commission's director, Shelly Baldwin, has pointed to what the agency calls the “fatal four” high-risk behaviors, saying impairment, speed, distraction and lack of seatbelt use are involved in most of the state's traffic deaths.
