Richland woman killed in lane-merging crash on Leslie Road
A 61-year-old Richland woman died in a T-bone crash on Leslie Road Wednesday afternoon.
Victoria Deberry was a passenger in a four-door car when she was killed just before 4:15 p.m., said Benton County Coroner Bill Leach.
The driver of her car was heading south from Columbia Park Trail in one lane and a Ford pickup truck also was headed south in a second lane, said Richland police Capt. Chris Lee.
Just before Canyon Avenue, Leslie Road merges from two lanes into one southbound lane.
The two drivers, whose names were not released, did not merge and the two vehicles collided, sending the car into oncoming traffic on Leslie, said Lee.
A northbound SUV slammed into the passenger side of the car Deberry was in.
Other people in the vehicles suffered minor injuries, Lee said.
He said the drivers are giving conflicting accounts of who had the right of way when they were supposed to merge.
Police are continuing to investigate who was at fault and to reconstruct what happened. Lee said it’s still too early to know if anyone will be charged.
Leach said an autopsy is pending a decision from the prosecutor’s office.
Leslie road was closed for nearly four hours while police investigated.