A wrong-way driver died after causing a four-vehicle collision on State Route 516 (Kent Des Moines Road) near West Meeker Street in Kent early Friday morning, Washington State Patrol reported.
Layla Bader, 25, of Yelm, died at the scene of the crash from multiple blunt force injury, according to the King County Medical Examiner’s Office.
According to State Patrol, the victim, driving a 2014 Chevrolet Impala, was traveling eastbound in the westbound lanes when she struck a 2008 Chevrolet C4500 pickup truck driven by a 54-year-old Lake Tapps man. As the truck hit the center median, the victim lost control of her car, spinning and then hitting a second vehicle, a 2013 Toyota Highlander driven by a 27-year-old Tacoma woman. Debris from the wreck damaged a fourth vehicle, a 2018 Hyundai Kona driven by a 20-year-old Puyallup man.
The three drivers involved in the crash were not seriously hurt, State Patrol said.
The wreck, which occurred around 2:49 a.m. near West Meeker Street, closed the roadway between Military Road South and West Valley Highway for more than five hours.
State Patrol said drugs or alcohol may have been involved. The victim was not wearing a seat belt, State Patrol said.
The crash remains under investigation.
Deadly intersection
It marks the second death in two weeks on SR 516 near West Meeker Street. Kent Police Office Diego Moreno was killed on July 22 when struck by a fellow officer during a pursuit.
Four people have died in the last four months along that stretch of highway.
In April, two Federal Way men were killed when their car headed the wrong way at about 11:35 p.m. on SR 516 just east of West Meeker Street. Six other people were injured in the four-vehicle crash. A 1988 Toyota Camry traveled eastbound in the westbound lanes. The three other vehicles were westbound, according to the State Patrol.
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