‘Nobody is ever going to be the same without him’: Families of Tacoma crash victims speak out

TACOMA, Wash. — We are learning more about the victims who were involved in a deadly car crash in Tacoma Sunday morning.

Washington State Patrol is still investigating and said it appears one of the two cars involved in the crash was speeding and ran a red light. WSP has not yet revealed which car it was. We learned that the six people who lost their lives were all 25 years or younger.

Erick Tsosie is one of the victims who died in that car crash. He’s from Arizona and leaves behind a young son, two sisters, and his parents.

“We’ll miss him. My baby,” Rita Tsosie, his mom, told us.

His family described him as the glue that held their family together and said he had an infectious smile.

“He was trying to build a future for himself and his family, was going to Washington to change his life and have a career but it was all just swiped away in an instant,” Sharmaine Tsosie, his sister, said. “There will never be another Erick Tsosie, never.”

Another victim, Javan Runnels, was just 22 years old. We spoke to his mother, Lisa Campbell on the phone.

“He was the best, best, most perfect son,” Campbell said.

She described her son as an all-around superstar.

“He was loved, he knew he was loved and I’m—nobody is ever going to be the same without him,” she said.

Mersadies Vanlier said she didn’t want to believe her youngest sister, 19-year-old Cerra Corner, had died.

“I just felt like someone punched me in the chest, it just, it literally took my breath away, it made me feel like I couldn’t breathe,” said Vanlier. “I just didn’t want to believe it.”

Vanlier described Cerra as a positive person who had a lot of goals and aspirations she wanted to accomplish.

“She had tons of energy, she loved playing sports, had tons of friends in school, she would always make people laugh, would always joke around always smiling,” said Vanlier. “She was just an all-around good person.”

Erick, Javan, Cerra, Lisa, Felix, and Calsie are all from Arizona and were here in Washington for a convention. Their families are trying to get their remains back to their home state and have each started GoFundMe’s to help cover those costs.

If you’d like to help you can donate here:

• Erick Tsosie - Help Bring Our Navajo Marine, Erick Tsosie, Home
• Cerra Corner - Help get Cerra home to her family
• Javan Runnels - Please help us bring Javan home
• Lisa Gordon - Bring Lisa Home
• Felix Begay - In loving memory of Felix Y Begay
• Calsie Sockyma - Calsie Elizabeth Sockyma

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