EVERETT — A motorcyclist hit and killed last month while driving on Evergreen Way has been identified.
And prosecutors have charged the alleged driver of the vehicle which hit him with vehicular homicide.
Around 8:20 p.m. on May 21, Matthew Japhet was riding his motorcycle north on Evergreen Way. Meanwhile, Desiree Gott was driving her Honda Accord south, according to the criminal charges filed last week in Snohomish County Superior Court.
Gott, who was previously identified by the alias Desiree Morin, turned left from the middle lane to apparently enter a parking lot on the east side of Evergreen near 112th Street. She turned in front of Japhet and hit him, the charges allege. Japhet was thrown over the Accord, landing in the northbound lanes.
“The force of the collision tore the motorcycle apart,” deputy prosecutor Tobin Darrow wrote in the charging papers. “The torso came to rest on the roadway without a front tire, gas tank, or seat, and the front forks were bent underneath the engine.”
A witness told police the Accord turned as if the motorcycle wasn’t there.
Medics took Japhet to Providence Regional Medical Center Everett, but he reportedly died on arrival. The Everett man was 34. The Snohomish County Medical Examiner’s Office did not immediately identify Japhet out of respect for the family. An autopsy determined he died of blunt-force injuries.
When Everett police arrived at the crash scene, they found the Accord unoccupied, according to court documents. Gott, 49, and her son were standing on the sidewalk. They both reported the son had been driving. But upon further questioning, Gott acknowledged she didn’t see the motorcycle and claimed it was her son’s idea to lie.
In a later written statement, the suspect said she was trying to turn into the BECU parking lot and “the guy on the bike was just there,” according to the charges.
An officer noted Gott’s eyes were droopy and that she was unusually energetic. The officer suspected she was under the influence. She reportedly said she’d been forced to take methamphetamine that morning.
At the Snohomish County Jail, the defendant agreed to a drug evaluation. The drug recognition officer concluded Gott was under the influence of a stimulant, according to court documents.
Police also got a sample of Gott’s blood. Test results were pending when charges were filed Friday, Darrow wrote in court papers.
Court documents list almost two dozen addresses for Gott across Snohomish County. A prior police report noted she was a Mountlake Terrace resident.
She has one prior felony conviction. In 2000, she was sentenced to 20 days in jail for welfare fraud. She also has over a dozen misdemeanor violations, including several for driving with a suspended license in the late 1990s. Most of the misdemeanors were over 15 years ago. The most recent was in 2019 for theft in Benton County, in southeastern Washington.
Gott was in the Snohomish County Jail this week with bail set at $50,000.
Jake Goldstein-Street: 425-339-3439; jake.goldstein-street@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @GoldsteinStreet.
Talk to us
- You can tell us about news and ask us about our journalism by emailing newstips@heraldnet.com or by calling 425-339-3428.
- If you have an opinion you wish to share for publication, send a letter to the editor to letters@heraldnet.com or by regular mail to The Daily Herald, Letters, P.O. Box 930, Everett, WA 98206.
- More contact information is here.
