Two Grandview children were killed Tuesday night in a head-on crash near Sunnyside on Interstate 82.
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Sunnyside, Washington
Two children from the Yakima Valley are dead and three more people are in a Seattle hospital after a suspected intoxicated driver slammed into them going the wrong way on Interstate 82.
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Washington State Patrol troopers believe Keith A Goings, 20, of Springfield, Mo., got onto the interstate going west in the eastbound lanes from the Sunnyside exit, Trooper Chris Thorson told the Herald.
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A Washington State Patrol trooper had spotted the 2007 Ford Mustang earlier going 111 mph on Interstate 90 near Ellensburg about 6:35 p.m. Tuesday.
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The trooper tried to stop the car, but Goings sped off. Current state laws around police pursuits prevented the officer from chasing him since there was no evidence of a violent or sexual crime or that the driver was under the influence.
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A law being considered by this year’s Legislature would add more options for pursuits, including if a suspect poses a “serious risk of harm to others.”
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An hour later, Goings was driving the wrong way on I-82 and slammed head-on into a Nissan Altima driven by Maurilio D. Trejo, 23. The crash happened about two miles west of Sunnyside.
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The crash killed a 6-year-old boy and an 8-year-old girl in Trejo’s car.
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A 5-year-old girl in the Altima, as well as Trejo and Goings, were taken to Yakima Valley Memorial Hospital and then flown to Seattle’s Harborview Medical Center.
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Their current conditions were not immediately available Wednesday.
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Trejo and the three children are from Grandview and were all wearing seat belts. They are related, but police have not said how.
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Investigators believe Goings was either drunk or high on drugs at the time. A blood sample is being tested, Thorson said.
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State patrol investigators plan to look into what brought Goings from Missouri to Washington, said Thorson.
