Deputies look for more witnesses
AIRWAY HEIGHTS – The Spokane County Coroner’s Office has released the identities of two people found dead after being hit by a pickup truck at about 11:45 p.m., April 29, near the intersection of West Trails and North Flight roads.
Desmond Miller, 25, and his fiancee Kady McFeron, 33, died from blunt force injuries to the head, neck, torso and extremities, the Coroner’s Office reported.
Megan C. Skillingstad, 29, is being held on $1,000,000 bail in the Spokane County Jail in connections with the deaths of Miller and McFeron.
She was located near the fatal crash scene in her wrecked pickup truck, records show. Investigators reported that she appeared to be under the influence of alcohol at the time of the crash.
Investigators said the damages to her truck were consistent with the fatal crash. Furthermore, the truck’s license plate was found near the bodies.
Despite her arrest, investigators are still looking for information from possible witnesses.
According to the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office, a potential witness reported seeing a white passenger car with its hazard lights flashing in the area of the fatal crash that night.
Sheriff’s Office detective J. Welton is looking for information on the sedan.
According to reports, the white vehicle was following a dark-colored pickup at the time of the crash.
Witnesses reported seeing the vehicle driving slowly and weaving as it approached Old Trails Road, where it apparently turned, stopped and turned off its lights, records show.
Investigators would like to identify and talk with the driver and any passengers in the white car to see what, if any, information they may have about the fatal hit-and-run crash.
Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to call detective Welton at 509-477-3237, reference Case No. 10060489.
Miller and McFeron were walking home from an evening at Northern Quest Casino at the time of their deaths, court records show.
Deputies investigating the scene located tire marks on the soft shoulder of the roadway and vehicle crash debris, including a Washington state license plate. Due to the serious nature of this incident and the death of two people, Traffic Unit Investigators were called to assist.
Approximately 40 minutes later (12:25 a.m., April 30), a second caller reported a dark-colored pickup truck in a ditch with front-end damage on North Old Trails Road just south of West Trails Road.
A deputy responded, located the GMC pickup truck, and contacted Skillingstad, who was subsequently arrested..
The preliminary investigation indicated the truck was eastbound on West Trails Road as it approached a slight curve near North Flint Road.
Skillingstad was unable to negotiate the curve, left the road and struck two pedestrian – Miller and McFeron, either in the ditch or along the edge of the roadway, records show.
She continued driving away, striking several fence posts before coming to a stop a short distance away, records show. Skillingstad managed to get back onto the road and fled eastbound, leaving a license plate and a trail of vehicle fluids.
She turned off West Trails Road onto North Old Trails Road, about a half-mile away and parked until deputies contacted her, records show.
Skillingstad consented to field sobriety evaluations and was later arrested for two counts of vehicular homicide and two counts of hit-and-run.
A search warrant was granted, and a sample of Skillingstad’s blood was obtained for later testing. Skillingstad was transported and booked into the Spokane County Jail for the four felony charges.
This isn’t the first fatal crash Skillingstad has been in.
In 2011, while driving, Skillingstad struck and killed Dennis Widener, a retired steel worker.
Court records show she served less than a year in jail for killing Widener.
Roger Harnack is the owner/publisher of Free Press Publishing. Having grown up Benton City, Roger is an award-winning journalist, columnist, photographer, editor and publisher. He's one of only two editorial/commentary writers from Washington state to ever receive the international Golden Quill. Roger is dedicated to the preservation of local media, and the voice it retains for Eastern Washington.
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