Eastern Adams County's Only Independent Voice Since 1887
Eastern Adams County's Only Independent Voice Since 1887
OTHELLO – Three local residents were killed in crashes in Grant County late last week.
Deena Romero Ramos, 19, was killed in a crash early Saturday morning on Road 9-Northeast near Moses Lake, the Grant County Sheriff’s Office reported. And Perfecto Rojas Meija, 45 and Romeo Velasquez Diaz, 58, were both killed on Road E-Southeast when their vehicle was hit by a flatbed truck Thursday.
In the Saturday crash, Ramos was in her 2009 Toyota Corolla when she failed to negotiate a curve in a gravel driveway and her car went airborne, a report said.
The front end of the car hit the ground and the Corolla flipped, coming to rest on its roof, the report said. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
A passenger in her care, Cassandra M. Unruh, 19, also of Othello, was injured and taken to a local hospital.
In the Thursday crash, Meija was driving a 2004 Nissan Murano when he pulled into the path of a westbound Freightliner flatbed truck driven by James Howard Smith, 57, of Cle Elum, a report said. Smith was not injured.
That crash occurred about a mile north of Royal City.
The impact caused the Murano to overturn; it came to rest on the drivers side in an irrigation canal.
Meija was pronounced dead at the scene. His passenger, Diaz, was airlifted to a Richland medical center, where he was pronounced dead.
Both crashes are being investigated by the Grant County Sheriff’s Motor Traffic Unit.
Roger Harnack is co-owner and publisher of Free Press Publishing. An award-winning journalist, photographer, editor and publisher who grew up in Eastern Washington, he's one of only two Washington state journalists ever to receive the international Golden Quill for editorial/commentary writing. Roger is committed to preserving local media, and along with it, a local voice for Eastern Washington.
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