5 victims of Puyallup crash identified, including 4 children

The Pierce County Medical Examiner has identified all five victims of a deadly crash early in the morning of Jan. 14 on state Route 512 in Puyallup.

In addition to 29-year-old driver Kiarra Monaghan of Sumner, four children were killed. They include Monaghan’s children, Noah Monaghan, age 12, and Amiyah Eutimio, age 3, as well as Amiira Little and TaeShon Manuel, both 11 years old.

Where the divided highway curves nearly 90 degrees to the left near Puyallup’s South Hill Mall, Monaghan’s eastbound Ford Flex sport utility vehicle went off the road and hit an overpass support. It burst into flame at about 4:20 on a Sunday morning, according to the Washington State Patrol. No other vehicles were involved, and the roadway was clear and dry at the time.

All five passengers died at the scene. The highway was closed for 8 hours as the crash scene was cleared and investigated.

The state patrol continues to investigate possible causes of the crash.

An eyewitness told KIRO News the driver was going 100 miles per hour before hitting the concrete pillar.

The Washington Traffic Safety Commission says speeding and traffic deaths have skyrocketed since the start of the Covid pandemic.

About 1 in 3 drivers in fatal crashes were speeding at the time.

RELATED: Taming speed on the Speedway (and other Washington roads)

Federal safety officials call speeding and intoxicated driving a “dual epidemic” on American roads.

In November, following its investigation of a crash in which an intoxicated driver ran a red light in Nevada at 103 miles per hour, killing 4 children and 5 adults, the National Transportation Safety Board called for requiring all new cars to have anti-speeding technology. At minimum, such “intelligent speed assistance” technology warns drivers when they are speeding. Some versions can also slow vehicles down when they exceed a local speed limit.

Intelligent speed assistance is now required on all new vehicles in Europe.