Woman arrested in Kennewick hit-and-run death of Richland mom
A Kennewick woman has been arrested after the Saturday morning death of a Richland mother who was run over twice on West Canal Drive in Kennewick.
Alexandra Brinkley, 33, was taken to jail Thursday after detectives located what they suspect is the first car that crashed into Angelica Morfin-Barajas, 31, shortly after midnight Saturday morning.
The driver did not stop, and a second vehicle then ran over Morfin-Barajas as she lay injured in the roadway near the North Lyle Street intersection on Canal Drive.
What is suspected to be the first vehicle, initially described as a red or maroon SUV or truck with front-end damage, was located in the 700 block of East 15th Avenue in Kennewick, according to police.
Police said they had help in locating the suspect car and driver from footage caught by residents’ cameras, traffic cameras and Flock cameras, a type of automated license plate reader.
“Without all these systems working together, this suspect likely would not have been identified and the case would have gone unsolved,” police posted online.
A search warrant was served at the 15th Avenue location at 12:20 p.m. Thursday, leading to Brinkley’s arrest and the vehicle being seized to process for evidence.
Brinkley was booked into the Benton County jail on suspicion of felony hit-and-run, resulting in death.
The driver of the second vehicle that hit Morfin-Barajas had stopped and 911 was called.
Kennewick police and firefighters attempted to save Morfin-Barajas, but she died before she could be taken to a hospital.
The mother of five was described as “struggling,” but working to improve her living circumstances. She was a joyful person who radiated energy, her mother posted online.
An online fundraiser was started for her funeral expenses at bit.ly/AngelicaMorfin.
Kennewick police do not believe anyone else was involved in Morfin-Barajas’ death, but are continuing the investigation. Anyone with information that could help understand what happened is asked to call 509-628-0333.