LYNNWOOD — A seizure may have caused a woman to lose control of her car and hit two pedestrians in Lynnwood last month, killing a woman and injuring a man, according to new search warrant documents.
Lynnwood police are still investigating, but have not made an arrest in the fatal crash, Deputy Chief Jim Nelson recently wrote in an email. He confirmed that a medical condition appears to be a contributing factor.
On May 16, the Everett woman was driving a Honda CRV west on 188th Street SW when she crossed into eastbound lanes.
Blenen E.M. Gonzalvo, 53, of Lynnwood, was walking on the sidewalk when the Honda jumped over the curb and hit her. She was carried on the car as it traveled another 70 feet and thrown off into a yard. Gonzalvo died at the scene from blunt force trauma, according to the Snohomish County Medical Examiner’s Office.
The Honda then slammed into the garage of a house on the intersection with 48th Avenue W. A resident in his 60s suffered injuries that were not life-threatening. He was released from a local hospital the same day.
That stretch of 188th Street is a residential arterial with a bicycle lane, in a neighborhood of single-family houses near Lynnwood Elementary School. It’s between Alderwood mall and Highway 99.
At the hospital, the driver, in her mid-20s, told an officer that the last thing she remembered was heading toward Highway 99. She was on her way to a friend’s house, she said, and was getting ready to leave town for Idaho. She said she saw an “aura,” and then her head began hurting.
Before blacking out, she recalled thinking that she should pull over and have someone pick her up, documents say.
A doctor reportedly told her she had a grand mal seizure.
She reportedly told the officer that she didn’t have any diagnosed medical conditions, but said she had a seizure sometime in the beginning of the year, and has had several smaller ones since. Those all happened at night, while she was sleeping, she said, according to the search warrant. A doctor said they were most likely caused by stress, she said.
So far, police have not found evidence of other possible causes for the crash, such as a mechanical failure or driving under the influence, Deputy Chief Nelson wrote.
The woman appeared to pass voluntary field sobriety tests without any sign of drug or alcohol use, and nothing wrong was found with her car, according to documents.
Police obtained a search warrant for a blood draw, but the results may not be available for months, Nelson wrote.
He said police are also considering whether the woman should have been aware that she could pose a driving risk because of a medical condition.
“That does not appear to be the case,” Nelson wrote.
Zachariah Bryan: 425-339-3431; zbryan@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @zachariahtb.
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