Friends of pregnant mom killed in Olympia crash remember her as ‘light, love, happiness’

OLYMPIA, Wash. — Friends and loved ones are rallying around a family dealing with tragedy, after a deadly wrong-way crash on I-5 near Olympia.

Pregnant mother Sam Denney and her toddler were killed in the crash. An 8-year-old daughter was hurt as well, and a friend says she is stable in the hospital.

KIRO 7′s Linzi Sheldon spoke with friends about how they’re trying to support her family, and the message they have for drivers.

“She was light and love and happiness,” Sam’s Olivia Guenther told us. “She spread it for everybody.

Samantha Denney’s joy leaps off the screen, smiling with her stepdaughter Malaya, Scarlett, and boyfriend Kameron Miller holding their son, Adonis.

Olivia met Sam when she was nine years old in South Bend. She met friend Geanna Waltenburg in high school in Pe Ell.

They say family was the most important thing to her.

“Her dad is her hero and her kids were her life and to be her friend was to be family,” Geanna described.

Now, they can’t believe she’s gone, killed when a wrong-way driver crashed into her car on I-5 on Friday as she was headed home to Longview. Sam was around four months pregnant with what was believed to be a baby girl.

“They were set to have their first ultrasound this week,” said Geanna.

Her two-year-old Adonis died in the crash too. As Geanna recalls, he was “the sweetest boy, and so curious and expressive.”

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Sam and her daughter Scarlett and son Adonis Sam and her daughter Scarlett and son Adonis

Sam’s daughter Scarlett is recovering in the hospital.

Now her boyfriend, Kameron Miller, is dealing with tragedy upon tragedy, after losing his girlfriend, his son, his unborn baby, and tending to Scarlett in the hospital.

Gunther and her husband started a GoFundMe to help pay for Scarlett’s medical bills and the costs of Sam’s funeral. It’s raised over $12,000 as of Monday.

Troopers arrested a 27-year-old man from Shelton linked to the crash, and believe drugs or alcohol were involved.

In the wake of this tragedy, Sam’s friends are urging people to “have better judgment.”

“Think about how your actions can affect others.”

Both friends say Sam was someone who cared for everyone, who never hesitated to help, and who leaves a lasting legacy of love.

“Love everybody openly,” they advised. “Tell them you love them -- she knew we loved her and everyone knew that she loved them.”

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