‘Justice for Ashley.’ Kennewick police still looking for 2nd driver after young mom’s death
Police are still trying to identify the vehicle involved in a weekend collision that killed a Pasco mom as autopsy results show she had many injuries.
Ashley Guevara, 21, died at 1 a.m. Sunday after falling out of the passenger side of her friend’s Toyota Camry, according to police.
The Toyota is believed to have run over Guevara as it turned west onto Clearwater Avenue from northbound Morain Street, said Kennewick police Lt. Aaron Clem.
Investigators think Guevara then was hit by a second vehicle in the intersection, he told the Tri-City Herald.
The agency’s traffic division has been following all leads — including gathering footage from traffic light cameras and businesses around the intersection and talking with witnesses — in an attempt to identify the other vehicle and driver. The officers want to know why that driver did not stop at the accident, said Clem.
Guevara was not wearing a seat belt, and police don’t know why the door was open as the car was turning.
Benton County Coroner Bill Leach initially said his office was not going to do an autopsy.
But police investigators, after receiving additional information, discussed the case with Leach and agreed that an autopsy was necessary to see if it could confirm some of their findings.
The examination was done Tuesday in Snohomish County
Leach said Wednesday that Guevara had multiple injuries consistent with being struck by a vehicle. He added that there is no way for an autopsy to determine if her death was caused by falling out of the Toyota or being hit by another car.
Police ruled out that Guevara’s friend, the driver of the Toyota, was impaired by drugs or alcohol.
A GoFundMe campaign to help with Guevara’s funeral expenses had raised about $10,000 as of Wednesday afternoon.
“We are hoping for justice for Ashley soon,” the organizers wrote.
Guevara was the mother of a 1 1/2-year-old boy, Zakiah.
A funeral is planned Friday in Sunnyside, followed by her burial in Pasco’s City View Cemetery and then a Celebration of Life in Grandview.
Anyone who saw what happened at the Morain and Clearwater intersection but has not yet talked with police is asked to call Sgt. Matt Newton at 509-582-1323.