Lewis County Sirens.com

A Dodge Neon was rear ended, shoved into a truck and then hit from behind again on Interstate 5 in Centralia. / Courtesy photo by Washington State Department of Transportation

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Two teenagers from Winlock were injured in a five vehicle chain reaction collision on Interstate 5 in Centralia this afternoon.

The Dodge Neon they were traveling in was struck from behind by a box truck and pushed into a pickup truck, according to Washington State Patrol.

Troopers and aid were called about 12:45 p.m. to the northbound lanes in between the Mellen Street and Harrison Avenue interchanges.

Taylor J. White, 18, and Arizona R. Meyer, 17, were transported to Providence Centralia Hospital with non-life threatening injuries, according to responders.

“I’m pretty sure they’ll be discharged tonight,” Riverside Fire Authority Firefighter Tera Green said. “They were very lucky.”

The 2001 Isuzu box truck driven by Grady J. Bowman, 23, of Napavine, came to rest on the right shoulder and a Jeep Wrangler which was following too closely was unable to stop before colliding with the Neon and pickup, according to the Washington State Patrol.

The Neon was totaled.

The driver of the Jeep, Susan M. Creighton, 38, of Randle, was injured as well but not hospitalized, according to the state patrol.

The wrecks were blamed on inattention.

Citations were to be issued to Bowman for second-degree negligent driving and to Creighton for following too closely, according to the patrol.

Able to be driven from the scene were a Crown Victoria and the Ford pickup, the investigating trooper reports.

Back side of the Dodge Neon. / Courtesy photo by Aaron Towman

Laura Lynn Hickey waits for the judge to arrive in Lewis County Superior Court today.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The actual hearing took less than two minutes, but seven friends and family of the former Centralia woman who cut off her premature newborn’s head in 2011 showed up to see her in court today.

Laura Lynn Hickey was back in Lewis County Superior Court from the Washington Corrections Center for Women at Purdy, to go before the same judge who sent her away for 30 years.

The Washington State Court of Appeals recently affirmed her sentence, but ordered a passage stricken from the findings of fact and conclusions of law document which was incorrectly recorded following her conviction.

Lewis County Prosecutor Jonathan Meyer asked Judge Nelson Hunt today to enter an amended order. Hunt did.

The issue was related to language indicating her exceptional sentence was in part because the child suffered from methamphetamine intoxication. In the plea deal, Hickey stipulated to an aggravating factor that the victim was particularly vulnerable because of its age only.

Hickey, who was about halfway through her pregnancy, told authorities she unexpectedly delivered into a toilet and ended the baby’s life with a serrated kitchen knife as he was trying to take a breath. Her lawyer said she viewed it as a mercy killing.
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For background, read: “Centralia mother who decapitated premature newborn back in court for technical issue” from Tuesday December 9, 2014, here

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The Vader couple accused in the death of a 3-year-old boy they were caring for pleaded not guilty yesterday in Lewis County Superior Court.

Danny and Brenda Wing were charged in early November with homicide by abuse or, in the alternative, first-degree manslaughter; each are charged as either the principal or accomplice.

Jasper Henderling-Warner

The toddler, Jasper Henderling-Warner, died from what the coroner called chronic battered child syndrome.

Jasper died on Oct. 5, an evening when Brenda Wing called 911 to their home and said he wasn’t breathing. His 21-year-old mother had allowed the couple to care for her son for a period of time described by the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office as several months while she was homeless, traveling and looking for work.

The Wings gave conflicting accounts to detectives of the child’s final weekend.

Their trials were scheduled for the week of Jan. 26, before separate judges.

Danny A. Wing, 26, is represented by Todd Pascoe, a defense lawyer from Vancouver, Wash. Brenda A. Wing, 27, is represented by Seattle-based attorney John Crowley.

Ordinarily, a person has a right to be arraigned within 14 days, but they waived that right while they worked out hiring their lawyers.

The remain held in the Lewis County Jail, on bails set at $500,000 and $200,000 respectively.
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For background, read:

• “Defendants in Vader toddler death case postpone arraignments again” from Thursday December 4, 2014, here

• RCW 9A.32.055: Homicide by abuse, here

• RCW 9A.32.060: Manslaughter in the first degree, here

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Centralia Police Chief Bob Berg is retiring this spring, and a search for his replacement is already underway.

Berg, 63, whose law enforcement career began in Centralia in 1972, moved on to other jobs and then returned as chief in early 2004.

He is retiring in May, according to the city’s human resources director, Candice Rydalch.

The pay for the head of the department with 31 commissioned officers in Lewis County’s most populated city is being advertised as between about $100,000 and $122,000.

Rydalch said yesterday they have already begun a nationwide search.

Applications are being accepted through the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs  through Jan. 8.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

The wreck that killed 25-year-old Dustin N. Meyer on Centralia-Alpha Road southwest of Chehalis on Saturday night remains under investigation, but the sheriff’s office believes speed may have been among the factors involved.

Meyer was northbound at a righthand curve when his car left the roadway and hit a tree, spun around and then struck a second tree, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

It happened near Senn Road just before 9 p.m.

The Centralia man was wearing a seatbelt but died at the scene of multiple blunt force injuries, according to authorities. He was driving a Hyundai Sonata.

The Washington State Patrol assisted deputies in investigating the collision, Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said.

CORRECTION: This has been updated to correctly reflect the middle initial of Meyer’s name. Erroneous information was initially provided by the Lewis County coroner.

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For background, read “Sharyn’s Sirens: Daily police and fire roundup – FATAL WRECK” from Sunday December 7, 2014, here