Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
DAVENPORT — A Palouse woman was arraigned in Lincoln County Superior Court in Davenport on Tuesday, Oct. 8, in connection with the deaths of three local men.
Jade A. Ellsworth, 29, of Palouse was arraigned for vehicular homicide, booked into the county jail and then released on her own recognizance.
She is prohibited from leaving the state and required to live in Palouse, records show, noting a trial is set for 9 a.m. March 5.
A readiness hearing is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Feb. 11.
Public defender David Hearrean was assigned to represent her; Chief Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Ty Albertson is prosecuting the case.
Court records show Ellsworth is accused of being responsible for the deaths of Alan Kysar, 26, Braedon Efraimson, 26, and Blake Wilson, 24, all of Davenport.
All three men were graduates of Davenport High School. Newspaper archives and School District administration indicate Efraimson graduated in 2016, Kysar in 2017 and Wilson in 2018.
According to court records, all three died in a June 7 two-vehicle crash at the intersection of Harrington-Tokio Road and Mohler Road.
Ellsworth was westbound in her 2007 Honda Pilot on Mohler Road when she failed to stop for a stop sign at about 8:30 p.m. and hit the 2002 Honda Civic containing Kysar, Efraimson and Wilson, record show.
Ellsworth told responding deputies she was driving at about 65 mph and didn’t see the stop sign at Harrington-Tokio Road because the sun was in her eyes and she was unfamiliar with the road, court records show. The posted speed limit is 50 mph.
During the subsequent investigation, Ellsworth told deputies she was going to Lake Chelan, following a route laid out on her phone’s GPS.
Neither drugs nor alcohol were factors in the crash, and all three deceased men are believed to have been wearing seat belts, records show. Ellsworth, too, was wearing a seatbelt.
Roger Harnack is the owner/publisher of Free Press Publishing. Having grown up Benton City, Roger is an award-winning journalist, 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.
Reader Comments(0)