Boy dies, baby seriously injured in head-on crash in Grant County

An 11-year-old boy was killed and a 1-year-old boy seriously injured in a head-on car crash Wednesday afternoon near Royal City, the Granty County Sheriff’s Office reported.

Josue L. Amenta of Quincy was pronounced dead at the scene. The baby suffered head injuries and was flown to Kadlec Regional Medical Center in Richland and then to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, where he was listed in stable condition Thursday morning.

The children were riding in a pickup truck driven by Fausto H. Vargas, 59, of Othello. At about 2:45 p.m. a car driven by 18-year-old Abigail Leyva veered into the southbound lane after she “failed to negotiate a curve,” the Sheriff’s Office said. Both drivers were hospitalized with minor injuries.

The Sheriff’s Office said everyone in the vehicles was wearing a seatbelt, and alcohol and drugs were not factors in the collision.