Teen Sentenced To Remember Fatal Wreck

A teenager who killed four people when he ran a stop sign must erect crosses at the accident site and carry pictures of the victims with him at all times, a Yakima County Superior Court judge has ruled.

Tyrone Eaglespeaker, 16, of White Swan, was found guilty of four counts of vehicular homicide in the April 13, 1997, accident.

Judge James Gavin on Thursday ordered that the teen also visit the spot every two weeks, spend 10 weeks in juvenile detention and write a letter of apology to the victims’ family.

“You say you don’t have any memory of what occurred in the accident. Perhaps that will jog your memory,” Gavin said.

Eaglespeaker must also serve a year on probation, follow a curfew, perform 240 hours of community service and attend an autopsy of an automobile accident victim.

Additionally, he must pay more than $81,000 in restitution to the victim’s family, although a large portion of that will be covered by his family’s insurance.

Because the boy was not drinking or speeding at the time of the collision, and is a good student with family support and strong community ties, Gavin said he did not deserve the maximum sentence recommended by prosecutors - to serve time in juvenile jail until he turned 21.

“I didn’t mean for such a terrible thing to happen,” Eaglespeaker told the judge. “I’m sorry.”

Three people - Isabelle Jack, 41, her 16-year-old daughter, Cara Lee Tulee, both of White Swan, and 7-year-old Cherie Goudy - died at the accident scene. Another child, 8-year-old Jacqueline Goudy, died five days later.

Dallesport resident James Goudy, Jack’s brother and the father of the two young girls, was injured but survived.

Eaglespeaker was returning from a basketball game in Toppenish when he ran a stop sign in his stepfather’s truck and smashed into Goudy’s car.

The boy, then 15, was driving the truck without a license or his parent’s permission. He also suffered severe injuries in the collision.