Complications of crash injuries caused death

An autopsy showed a Garfield, Wash., woman injured in a crash earlier this month died from complications related to those injuries.

Whitman County Coroner Peter J. Martin announced on Wednesday that Michele J. Hertz, 41, died from septic shock on Jan. 24.

She was taken to Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center after the Jan. 17 crash and released four days later. Martin said she sustained a small tear in her small intestine that became abscessed and caused the sepsis.

She was speeding northbound on Highway 195 just south of Spokane when her vehicle left the roadway and struck a rock wall about 4:45 p.m., according to the Washington State Patrol.

Her death was ruled accidental.