Man faces murder charge in crash that killed Pierce County university student

A 47-year-old man is accused of trying to escape deputies before and after crashing his vehicle into another car, leaving a woman dead in Parkland on Wednesday.

Donald Wayne Rownan, 47 of Forks, has been charged with second-degree murder, vehicular homicide, failure to remain at accident resulting in death, vehicular assault, failure to remain at an injury accident, attempting to elude a pursuing police vehicle, escape from community custody and reckless driving.

Paola Parbol Arredondo, 20 of Toppenish, was killed in the crash. She died from multiple blunt-force injuries, and her death was ruled an accident, according to the Pierce County Medical Examiner’s Office.

A plea of not guilty was entered on Rownan’s behalf during his arraignment Thursday. Pierce County Superior Court Commissioner Barbara McInvaille set bail at $750,000.

Arredondo’s boyfriend, Gabriel Pangelinan, and his family were in attendance for the hearing.

“He took the life of a woman I loved very much,” Pangelinan said in a victim-impact statement.

Pangelinan, who appeared distraught, said that Rownan should not be out of jail. Pangelinan’s mother, Julz Mamaril, asked for no bail to be set.

“He’s nothing but wasted space on this earth,” Mamaril said.

Rownan allegedly was trying to drive away from a Pierce County deputy who was attempting a traffic stop as there was a Department of Corrections warrant out for the defendant’s arrest. A 48-year-old man and 36-year-old woman were passengers in the car. They were both taken to a local hospital, and the man was placed under a medically induced coma, according to charging documents.

Mamaril told news media outside the courtroom that Arredondo was a criminal-justice student at Pacific Lutheran University. She also worked part-time at a daycare and attended church every day. She immediately took to Pangelinan’s family when they all met.

Mamaril recounted a time when her family went camping at Lake Cushmann with Arredondo in July, which was her first time.

“There’s a lot of things that is new to her that I’m glad that we had that time with her,” Mamaril said.

Mamaril said they learned of the crash after seeing a news clip of it online. Pangelinan had Arredondo’s location shared to him, and they were able to put two and two together. She said that she was the one to tell Arredondo’s mother, who lives three hours away with their family, about the crash.

A GoFundMe has been set up to cover funeral costs and bring relief to Arredondo’s family.

A vigil was scheduled to take place Thursday at 112th and Ainsworth where the crash occurred. Charging details

At about 9:25 a.m., a Sheriff’s Office deputy tried to conduct a traffic stop on Rownan at 112th Street South and Ainsworth Avenue South. The defendant was driving a white Chrysler. Rownan sped off and went through a red light 10 blocks away. According to charging documents, he struck silver Toyota Corolla that was going through a green light.

The Toyota driver, later identified as Arredondo, died at the scene, documents show. Washington State Patrol took over the investigation.

Rownan allegedly ran off while his two passengers stayed at the scene. Rownan was eventually arrested and taken into custody, documents show. When an officer explained to Rownan that a woman died “due to his lack of accountability,” a WSP trooper noted that his demeanor indicated he did not care. Rownan also allegedly said something along the lines of, “You guys could not chase.”

Documents show that the trooper noted Rownan’s eyes appeared glossy, and his movements were delayed. His words were allegedly slurred.

A drug recognition expert interviewed Rownan and concluded that he was under the influence of drugs when the crash occurred. A warrant was granted to administrator a blood draw, documents show.

In the interview with the DRE expert, Rownan allegedly said he had been avoiding police for about a month and did not want to go to prison for violating his conditions of release. He said he had stopped running after the crash because it “wasn’t good” and was “a lot to take in.”

Documents show there was allegedly drug paraphernalia and possible narcotics in the Chrysler.

Rownan was on active DOC community custody at the time of the crash. He also had warrants out for DOC violations, charging documents show. He was released from custody on Aug. 29.

Court records show that Rownan has over 20 convictions dating back to 1997.