Probe continues six months after a crash killed man and girl

Published 1:30 am Friday, August 9, 2019

EVERETT — A little more than six months after a crash killed a 5-year-old girl and a 25-year-old man in south Everett, police are still investigating what happened.

The two were riding in the backseat of a car that appeared to be speeding, according to witnesses, before it struck a tree and a utility pole on 112th Street SW east of Evergreen Way. The impact split the vehicle into two pieces.

The girl, Izabella Torres, of Everett, was taken to the hospital, where she later died. Alemayehu Derege, of Lynnwood, died at the scene. The Snohomish County Medical Examiner’s Office determined that the cause for both deaths was multiple blunt force trauma.

The driver and another man riding in the front passenger seat suffered severe injuries, which are still being treated.

Their medical condition has slowed the investigation. As a result, police have yet to conduct a “thorough interview” of the driver or the passenger, Everett Deputy Chief John DeRousse said.

Police are also still doing calculations to reconstruct the collision and determine the speed the driver was going before impact, DeRousse said. Detectives expect to wrap up that process in the coming weeks.

DeRousse said police eventually expect to arrest the driver and refer the case to the Snohomish County Prosecutor’s Office for charges.

Zachariah Bryan: 425-339-3431; zbryan@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @zachariahtb.