PUYALLUP, Wash. — There is a plea for witnesses to a deadly crash that happened on State Route 512 near Puyallup’s South Hill. The crash happened early Sunday, leaving five people dead including at least two children.
The driver has been identified as a 29-year-old Sumner woman named Kiarra Monaghan. Her four passengers included those two children, both 11-year-old girls.
There are a lot of families feeling the pain of this terrible accident. And many of them are posting about their pain online. Because of that, we know that two of the victims were her children, and two others, both 11 were best friends.
We also know that all of them died when the vehicle they were in slammed into a concrete pillar and burst into flames.
There is a GoFundMe page for Monaghan.
A family friend now said Monaghan and her two children, Noah and Amiyah, all died. According to the Washington State Patrol, the remaining two victims are 11-year-old girls, both from Tacoma.
“One of the young ladies was ejected from the vehicle,” said Chris Loftis with Washington State Patrol. “She died at the scene as did those who remained in the vehicle.”
The Pierce County Medical Examiner is working to complete its report.
Loftis would not confirm that all the passengers were children but he is urging anyone who witnessed the moments before and during the terrible tragedy to come forward.
“We spoke to people at the scene yesterday,” Loftis said. “But, again, in a tragedy like this about the only point of grace we can offer is a thorough and professional investigation.”
Otis Elmquist told KIRO 7 what he saw hours after the fatal accident. He was driving his parents to the airport in SeaTac for his flight back home to Montana when Monaghan sped past them.
“They went by us on the freeway doing at least 100,” said Elmquist.
He said at one point the SUV was on just two wheels, then the deadly collision.
“It was on fire right away,” Elmquist said. “We couldn’t get anywhere other than the driver’s window. And the driver when we got there, was obviously deceased, as I assume everybody else was. They were doing 100 miles-an-hour straight into a concrete wall.”
A family friend told us that Monaghan’s family is devastated and not yet ready to talk. But we are in touch with family members of some of the children who died.