Two women were killed on State Route 18 on the morning of Oct. 12. Maria Wong, 59, and her daughter Jasmine Lao, 21, were headed to work at the Snoqualmie Casino when, troopers said, a driver, who they suspect was under the influence of drugs, crossed the center line and killed them.
"I'm just sad and angry at the same time, but nothing's going to bring them back so I can't feel better about it," said Michelle Lao in an interview with KIRO 7 on Monday.
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Michelle Lao, 22, told KIRO 7 how she found out about the devastating crash that killed her mother and sister. The family got a text from a co-worker at the Snoqualmie Casino around 8 a.m. on Friday, telling them the pair had never showed up for work. That's when Michelle Lao checked her cellphone and saw the headline about an accident on Tiger Mountain that contained the words "Honda" and "two dead."
"I couldn't open them," said Lao. "I handed the phone to my brother. That's when the nightmare began."
Lao told KIRO 7 her sister had just turned 21 on Oct. 3 and she'd bought tickets for them to go to Hong Kong in November, their second time this year.
"Everything reminds me of them, I don't know what to do, I don't know how to pick up the pieces. There's so much more to say I could write a book. The two most important people in our lives were taken from us," said Lao.
Troopers arrested Joshua Hannick, 36, of Lacey, for two counts of vehicular homicide. Court documents reveal Hannick was arrested for DUI in Gray's Harbor County on Sept. 10. According to prosecutors Hannick admitted to the trooper he'd used narcotics and troopers found what they believe is heroin in his truck.
Prosecutors are waiting for the results of the toxicology report to file charges and say the backlog at the State Crime lab has them waiting.
Hannick was taken to Harborview Medical Center in serious condition after the crash, but now he's been booked in King County Jail. Hannick has been charged with two counts of vehicular homicide.
Michelle Lao said her mother was a single mom who worked hard caring for her three children. Michelle Lao and her brother Phillip Lao, 19, are working on burial arrangements.
The siblings are asking for prayers and support as a they grieve. Michelle Lao provided a link to a Go Fund Me in her statement to KIRO 7.
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