EVERETT — Te Nguyen was crossing Seventh Avenue SE when she was hit in December 2019.
The street in south Everett has lanes going north and south, as well as a center lane for turning near the intersection with 95th Place SE.
Nguyen was walking “without the benefit of a crosswalk,” deputy prosecutor Tobin Darrow wrote in charges against the driver accused of striking and killing Nguyen, who was 83.
Nguyen reportedly put up her hand to get southbound traffic to stop for her, witnesses reported. But as she crossed into the northbound lane around 5:15 p.m, a silver Hyundai hit her in the side, sending Nguyen back into the turn lane.
The driver stopped for a moment before motoring away, witnesses reported, according to charging papers.
Nguyen was taken to Providence Regional Medical Center Everett, where she was pronounced dead at 6:52 p.m. She died from blunt force injuries to her head, torso and extremities, the Snohomish County Medical Examiner’s Office determined.
Just over two years after Nguyen’s death, Svetlana Kravchenko, 65, has been charged in Snohomish County Superior Court with a hit-and-run fatality.
Nguyen was one of 13 Snohomish County pedestrians to die in crashes in 2019, according to data from the state Department of Transportation. Another was also hit and killed near Seventh Avenue SE and 108th Place SE. Another 23 were suspected to have suffered serious injuries.
In 2020, 15 pedestrians died in the county and 29 were believed to be seriously injured, according to state data. In 2021, those numbers so far were 13 and 30, respectively.
One witness in December 2019 gave an initial police statement before picking up her son. She later told authorities she returned to the scene of the crash. She reported seeing the Hyundai parked crooked on a side street, according to court documents. She tried to drive past the Hyundai to see if anyone was in it, but the driver started the engine and left.
The witness took note of the license plate number.
Everett police ran the number and reportedly found their suspect, Kravchenko. Police went to her apartment a few hours after the crash, around 8 p.m., and noticed a Hyundai parked there.
“It had gentle creases on the driver’s side of the hood, which commonly result from vehicle-pedestrian collisions,” Darrow wrote in the charges.
The headlight on the driver’s side was also broken and missing a piece of plastic. According to court papers, the missing piece matched one found on the sidewalk next to where Nguyen was hit.
Officers knocked on Kravchenko’s door. According to the charges, she acknowledged driving the Hyundai and “hitting something.” In a written statement, she wrote that she saw a man on the hood of her car.
Kravchenko also reportedly wrote she pulled her car to the side of the road, but she was too paralyzed to get out. She reported feeling like she was having a heart attack. She wrote she drove home after medical units left the scene.
She acknowledged a driver is supposed to help and call police after a crash. Kravchenko noted she didn’t call police, according to court records.
Officers didn’t notice any sign of alcohol consumption or impairment while speaking with Kravchenko.
Darrow has said there simply aren’t enough people in the prosecutor’s office to review crashes that result in serious injury or death for criminal charges. He’s the only one. In this case, it took two years for charges to be filed.
The defendant has no criminal history, according to court papers.
Prosecutors didn’t object to Kravchenko staying out of police custody as long she appears in court when summoned and doesn’t commit any crimes.
She is to be arraigned Jan. 5.
Jake Goldstein-Street: 425-339-3439; jake.goldstein-street@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @GoldsteinStreet.
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