Eastside News

Young mother killed, children critically injured in SR 202 accident

REDMOND, Wash. — A young mother was killed, her two daughters are fighting for their lives.

Fog blanketed the street early Tuesday morning when one vehicle slammed into the other. But it's unclear if the fog played a role in the crash on Highway 202 in Redmond.

The victim's sister says she is too upset to talk about the accident that has two young children still in critical condition.

Nineteen-year-old Justina Lamphere was behind the wheel; her young children in the vehicle, when their lives were forever changed.

"Called 911, just screaming for ambulances to get out there because I knew that somebody was in bad shape," said a man who lives across the street. He did not want to be identified. But he heard the force of the impact and ran outside to help.

"I saw the woman in the car," he said. "She wasn't moving."

Her 2-year-old daughter was still in the car seat but it had been jettisoned into the ditch. Her 4-month-old daughter was still in the vehicle. First responders had to cut off the roof to get her out.

"It wasn't until they were finally able to get all of the debris that I realized the mom was not alive," the man said.

State troopers tell us Lamphere may have been turning around on Highway 202 trying to head westbound. But she ended up in the path of a Bothell man who was driving east in his white pickup truck. Investigators were trying to recreate the accident scene even when cameras were still there.

"We believe at least one was in the wrong lane," said WSP Trooper Rick Johnson. "We're just trying to figure of the sequence of events there."

Justina Lamphere's life with her young children was just getting started. According to her Facebook page, she was studying at North Seattle College. And the college confirms she was a student there early last year.

Those who were here say there was little they could do to save her.

"I wasn't really hopeful at that moment," the man said, "I mean with the mom slumped over."

The driver of the white pickup was treated here at Harborview then released. Trooper Johnson said their preliminary investigation is indicating that he was not at fault.

The video embedded below shows the crash scene.

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