Driver pleads not guilty in crash that left 3 dead

A Hayden man has pleaded not guilty to three counts of vehicular manslaughter in a Sept. 12 crash that killed a Spokane man and his two young daughters.

Investigators say Ryan J. Turner, 27, had been drinking before he got on U.S. Highway 95 driving the wrong way in the southbound lanes and collided head-on with a minivan driven by Mathew-Michael T. Baroni.

Baroni, 33, and his daughters, Madilyn Baroni, 8, and Molly Baroni, 6, died at the scene, about a mile south of Athol. None of them was wearing seat belts.

Baroni worked for years as an independent contractor for The Spokesman-Review, picking up a load of newspapers in Spokane every morning and taking them to Sandpoint for other carriers to deliver to subscribers’ homes.

Turner’s blood-alcohol content was about three times the legal limit, prosecutors previously said in court.

He entered the pleas Tuesday at his arraignment in 1st District Court. His trial is set for June 7, 2016.