December 8 – One woman died and eight other people were injured Saturday afternoon in a car crash on US Highway 395 just outside Ritzville.
Of the nine occupants, one passenger was wearing a seat belt.
Cassandra Wesley Hall, 34, of Wapato, Washington, died at the scene after the GMC Yukon she was driving rolled into the median. She was not wearing a seat belt.
Most passengers were transported to Sacred Heart. Henry Beavert, 37, of Toppenish, Washington, was transported to East Adams in Ritzville.
Oscar Kahclamat, 35, of Wapato, was among those injured.
WSP did not release the ages of the other six occupants.
Wesley Hall and eight others were traveling north about a mile from Ritzville on Saturday around 3:40 p.m. According to a WSP news release, she was driving too fast for the road conditions. There were no drugs or alcohol involved in the crash, the statement said.
Ritzville saw near-constant precipitation Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., said National Weather Service meteorologist Daniel Butler. The temperature that day hovered around 29 degrees, causing precipitation to freeze on the roads.
Butler advised drivers to slow down in freezing rain because it is difficult to stop quickly. To avoid uncontrollable slides, drivers should not use cruise control under these conditions, Butler said.
Elena Perry’s work is funded in part by members of the Spokane community through the Community Journalism and Civic Engagement Fund. This story can be republished for free by other organizations under a Creative Commons license. For more information about this, please contact the editor-in-chief of our newspaper.
