Wrong-way driver charged with vehicular homicide

A Pasco man was charged with vehicular homicide in Benton County Superior Court on Wednesday after being accused of killing another driver in Richland on Memorial Day.

Gregorio J. Chayrez Jr., 29, is being held on $500,000 bail.

He was driving the wrong way on Interstate 182 in Richland on Monday when his car hit head-on with a car driven by Norman D. Simpson Jr. near Wellsian Way, according to the Washington State Patrol.

Simpson, 55, of Yakima, died at the crash scene. His two passengers were not injured.

Chayrez was booked into the jail on Tuesday after being hospitalized overnight.

Washington state court records show that he pleaded guilty in 2011 to felony possession of a controlled substance in Franklin County.

He also pleaded guilty in 2013 to second-degree burglary in Franklin County.

This story was originally published May 30, 2018 at 6:21 PM with the headline "Wrong-way driver charged with vehicular homicide."