Woman pleads innocent to 2 vehicular homicide charges in fatal Kennewick crash
A woman pleaded innocent Thursday to killing a couple in a suspected drunk-driving crash at a busy Kennewick intersection.
Prosecutors officially charged Mariana Souza, 28, with two counts of vehicular homicide, and she was arraigned Thursday. She remains in the Benton County jail on $500,000 bail.
If released, she won’t be allowed to have alcohol, and will need monitoring equipment to make sure she doesn’t drink and drive.
Souza was allegedly driving drunk as she headed south on Steptoe Street on Sunday night after leaving a Richland bar, according to court records.
As she approached the intersection with Gage Boulevard, when the light turned red. She told officers that she couldn’t stop before hitting the driver’s side of a Ford Escape heading east. A witness said she was speeding.
The driver and passenger in the Escape, Tressica Garza, 38, and Wayne Judd, 45, were killed in the crash.
Souza smelled of alcohol and her eyes were “droopy,” so police received a warrant for a blood sample to be tested for her alcohol level, and she was taken into custody for DUI.
Garza and Judd each had four children. And a GoFundMe account has been set up to benefit Judd’s children at bit.ly/JuddFundraiser and another is to support Garza’s kids at bit.ly/TressicaFundraiser.
This story was originally published April 7, 2022 at 12:35 PM.