Driver killed in wrong-way crash on I-90 in downtown Spokane

A Spokane resident was killed early Saturday when she drove her car the wrong way on Interstate 90 in downtown Spokane.

Jessica N. Soule, 34, entered the westbound exit of I-90 at Maple Street headed east just after 1:30 a.m., the Washington State Patrol said in a news release. Her 2007 Dodge Caliber collided with a semitruck soon after entering the freeway.

The driver of the semi, Tracy Lee Knowles, 54, was injured and transported to Deaconess Hospital, WSP said. Knowles, of Puyallup, Washington was released Saturday.

Soule, who grew up in Bonners Ferry, was a mother of two.

According to Soule’s cousin, Kara Winey, Soule was an employee at Southwest Airlines and loved to travel.

“Jessica was a very kind and loving person,” Winey said. “She always had a smile on her face and loved her family very much.”

WSP said it was unclear if drugs or alcohol were a factor in the crash, which shut a portion of the freeway for five hours.