Passenger Killed In One-Car Accident

Tue., June 20, 2000

From Staff Reports

A 34-year-old Spokane woman was killed Monday morning when the car she was riding in crashed on Interstate 90 east of Tyler.

Laura Mernin died at the scene of the crash, according to the Washington State Patrol.

She was one of three passengers in a Mercury Sable driven by her husband, Tracy Mernin, 33. He was taken to Sacred Heart Medical Center by Med Star with massive head trauma.

Also injured were Judith A. Kelly, 58, of Spokane, who suffered a fractured leg, pelvis and elbow and multiple lacerations. She was taken by ambulance to Sacred Heart.

Phuoc Nuygen, 35, another passenger, was also taken to the hospital with multiple contusions.

Tracy Mernin was driving eastbound on Interstate 90 when the car drifted off the inside shoulder, overcorrected and crossed the eastbound lanes, police said. The vehicle drove off the south side of the road, hit a dirt embankment and flipped end over end, coming to rest on its wheels. The accident occurred at around 12:30 a.m.

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