Yakima County prosecutors charged a Missouri man with second-degree murder in connection with a Feb. 28 head-on crash that killed two children.
In court papers filed in Yakima County Superior Court Thursday, Keith Andrew Goings, 20, was charged with two counts each of second-degree murder and vehicular assault, and a single count of eluding police.
The murder charges do not require prosecutors to show an intent to kill but demonstrate that while eluding police Goings caused the deaths of Delilah Minshew, 8, and Timothy Escamilla, 6.
The crash has renewed calls from lawmakers and police to change state laws regarding high-speed pursuits.
A Washington State Patrol trooper first spotted Goings driving a White Ford Mustang 104 mph east on Interstate 90, four miles west of Thorp, according to a State Patrol probable cause affidavit. When the trooper tried to stop Goings, he sped off at 111 mph, the affidavit said.
The trooper then broke off his pursuit, the affidavit said. Three other troopers in Kittitas and Yakima counties also tried to pull over Goings, who reached speeds of 120 mph, but broke off each time when he refused to stop, the affidavit said.
As he fled officers, Goings turned off his headlights and weaved around slower vehicles on the highway, the affidavit said.
After refueling in Sunnyside, Goings started driving west in the eastbound lanes of Interstate 82, where he collided head-on with a Nissan Altima. Delilah and Timothy, who were siblings, were in the Altima and were killed in the crash while their 5-year-old sister and the Altima's driver, Maurilio "Danny" Trejo, 23, of Grandview, were injured and eventually taken to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, along with Goings, the affidavit and a State Patrol news release said.
The Tri-City Herald reported that Trejo was driving the children, who were in foster care, to a supervised visit with their parents.
Troopers said Goings was reportedly "laughing and showing complete disregard" for the Altima's occupants, the affidavit said.
He is being held in the Yakima County jail in lieu of $100,000 bail.
Under state law, police must have probable cause, meaning that it is more likely than not, that someone has committed a violent crime before engaging in a pursuit. At that time, the only crime authorities could attribute to Goings was speeding, which alone does not justify a pursuit under the 2021 state law, Trooper Chris Thorson said earlier.
While police can pursue someone if they have reasonable suspicion that they are driving under the influence, Thorson said there was not enough evidence at the start to justify that rationale for a pursuit. A drug-recognition expert who saw Goings after the crash determined he was likely under the influence of intoxicants, and a toxicology test is being performed on his blood.
Police and lawmakers cited the crash as further evidence the law needs to be revised to allow police to use a reasonable suspicion standard for initiating pursuit in some cases.
State senators passed a bill this past week that would allow police to engage in pursuits if they have reasonable suspicion that someone has committed or is committing a violent offense, a sex offense, vehicular assault, escape, domestic violence assault or driving under the influence, and that the risk of not stopping the person outweigh the risks of the pursuit.
