Community gathers, mourns after crash near Renton kills 3 children, woman (Seattle Times)

 

SOUTH KING COUNTY — Members of the South King County community gathered Friday night by the site of a violent car crash to remember the three children and woman who were killed.

Andrea Hudson, 38, died in the crash near Renton along with children of close friends — 13-year-old Matilda Wilcoxson, 12-year-old Eloise Wilcoxson and 12-year-old Boyd Buster Brown — who were passengers in her car. Two of Hudson’s children were injured, as well.

Hundreds of people gathered at a nearby park before carrying lit candles to the crash site in the unincorporated community of Fairwood, where a memorial has grown with bouquets of flowers and three stuffed bunnies. 

Jacqueline D’Eon Robertson, who organized the vigil, used to coach Buster’s soccer team. Her son, 13, still played with him — and learning of the loss “really hit home” for him, Robertson said.

During the vigil, people gathered in a circle in front of the site and sang “The Spirit of God,” a hymn in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Robertson wishes there weren’t so few police patrols in unincorporated King County. She has lived in the neighborhood for 30 years and said the frequency of speeding on 140th is “incredible.” 

During a gathering Friday morning, Rivka Mikkelsen Wilcoxson called her two oldest daughters, Matilda and Eloise, devoted sisters, leading a pack of six siblings.

“They were inseparable,” she said. Chace Wilcoxson, Matilda and Eloise’s father, said, “There were no words to express the grief and pain.”

The two Wilcoxson sisters were close friends with Buster, a violinist and athlete. Buster’s father, Jaron Brown, described him as “one of the most fun-loving, adventurous kids.” They often spent time mountain biking, skating and playing basketball together.

Buster’s mother, Jessica Brown, led a home schooling group alongside Andrea Hudson, who was driving the children home from school Tuesday when she was killed in the crash.

Andrea’s two older children, 14-year-old Nolan and 12-year-old Charlotte, were injured. They both remain at Harborview Medical Center, where Nolan is in critical condition and Charlotte is in serious condition in the ICU. The family is accepting donations on GoFundMe for the children’s medical bills and Andrea’s funeral.

Isaac Smith, Andrea’s brother, said Friday that Charlotte and Nolan “are making small baby steps, and we’re praying for full recovery.”The King County Sheriff’s Office has identified an 18-year-old man as the driver who caused the crash. The suspect, Chase Daniel Jones, was booked into the King County Jail on Friday after he was treated for his injuries at Harborview Medical Center. A judge set his bail at $1 million.

Prosecutors charged him with vehicular homicide, vehicular assault and reckless driving. Witnesses reported he was weaving in and out of traffic while traveling at high speeds leading up to the crash.

Shortly before 1 p.m. Tuesday, he allegedly ran a red light and T-boned Hudson’s minivan at the intersection of Southeast 192nd Street and 140th Avenue Southeast. The force of the collision pushed her car into two other vehicles, prosecutors wrote.

Crash data from Jones’ car showed he was going 112 mph at full throttle through the intersection, with no apparent attempt at braking, according to the charges. The posted speed limit on the road is 40 mph.

Prosecutors noted this was the third car Jones has totaled in the past year. In one of those cases, he was going more than 20 mph over the speed limit when he T-boned another car in an uncontrolled intersection. Afterward, he reportedly made a statement, saying something like “it was an open straight road, so I gave it some gas” and that he was going too fast to avoid the crash, the detective wrote.

Jones’ arraignment is set for April 4.

“We believe in unconditional forgiveness,” Chace Wilcoxson said Friday, “and we pray and we plead for you to pray for the young man who caused this terrible accident.”

Tuesday’s crash was the first serious collision at the intersection this year, according to data shared online by the Washington State Department of Transportation. There were two nonfatal crashes there last year, the data shows.

A collision in 2022 on 140th Avenue Southeast and Southeast 186th Street, just north of Tuesday’s crash, killed a husband and wife, Violet Cayetano Lyon, 72, and Herbert Lyon, 82. A man, 18 at the time of the crash, pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide for their deaths and was traveling an estimated 79 mph in the 35 mph zone.

Paul Johnson, 50, has lived in the community since he was a baby. The house he grew up in, about a block from the crash site, is often a spot for drag racing. He said that about a week before the crash his father filed a report with the Sheriff’s Office asking for speed patrols on 192nd.

He still lives nearby and came upon the crash site hours later, seeing the carnage on the side of the road. 

“It was a very eerie silence,” Johnson said. “It was very surreal.” 

Johnson and his wife have heard many accidents from the intersection in recent years as the area has boomed, he said. He now wishes the county would install a roundabout so drivers are forced to slow down. 

Correction: An earlier version of this story said the suspect remained at the hospital. He was booked into the King County Jail and had charges filed against him on Friday.

Jessica's words of her experience that day:

We gathered at the park near 140th at the edge of our street out of the neighborhood where I first saw Chace speeding that day on March 19th when I went left.  It was quite a scene to beyond. Hundreds if not a few thousand people gathered in one place, in the pouring rain to remember, to support, to promote change.  I walked arm in arm with Jaron as we held our candle and walked toward the site.  I sang for a minute "If you close the door, the night could last forever" I hummed and had Buster, Andrea, Tilly, and Eloise on my mind.  It was such a crazy experience seeing that many people. It was like if all the people on your Facebook showed up in real life, anyone you may have ever known or who have known you or your kids was there it seemed.  It was truly touching.