A month after Tacoma wreck killed 6, families await answers for what happened on SR-509
A month after two cars collided on Tacoma’s Tideflats, leaving six people dead, the State Patrol’s investigation is trudging along, leaving some relatives anxiously awaiting answers.
Detectives have said verifying which driver had a red light at the intersection is one of the most difficult pieces of their inquiry, made trickier by the lack of clear video of the traffic signals. The number of fatalities and the intersection where it happened also makes it a more complex incident to reconstruct and investigate.
For one victim’s older sister, Phillisa Begay, the delays are upsetting, and she says it’s putting more worry on her grieving parents, who want justice for their son, Felix.
“Why is it taking so long?” Begay, 31, said. “You know, there’s a lot of why’s, and it’s delaying my family’s healing process.”
The July 16 collision at state Route 509 and Alexander Avenue was the deadliest wreck Washington state has seen in more than two decades, according to state records. The victims were young Arizona residents visiting for a two-day Amway convention at the Tacoma Dome.
It was the last day of that convention, and Begay said her brother texted their father that morning to wish him an early happy birthday and to tell him he’d be home the next day.
At about 11:17 a.m., the Kia Forte Phillisa’s brother was in was heading south on Alexander Avenue, coming from the Tideflats, when it went through the intersection and was struck by a BMW SUV traveling north on Route 509, causing the Kia to roll and briefly catch fire. Five of its seven occupants died at the scene, according to the State Patrol, and one died either at the hospital or en route. One man in the KIA survived, and the two people in the BMW reportedly suffered cuts and bruises.
Those who died were Felix Y Begay, 25, of Kayenta, Arizona; Cerra Corner, 19, of Phoenix; Lisa Esparza, 19, of Phoenix; Javan Runnels, 22, of Phoenix; Calsie Sockyma, 25, of Tuba City, Arizona and Erick Tsosie, 25, of Kayenta, Arizona.
Initial reports from the State Patrol found the cause was failure to stop for a red light, and speed was a factor, but it’s unclear who was at fault. Detectives have said impairment from drugs or alcohol are not expected to be a factor, and it could take three to five months or longer for a full investigation to be complete.
The detective in charge of the investigation, Michael Pry, told The News Tribune part of the reason it will take longer than many other fatality investigations is that it’s being handled by the State Patrol’s Major Accident Investigation Team, a specialty group tasked with looking into “catastrophic” collisions. Part of the inquiry is determining who is at fault, but it will also find any proximate causes and contributing circumstances.
A State Patrol spokesperson, trooper John Dattilo, said in Pierce and Thurston counties, the agency strives to complete non-criminal fatality investigations in one to three months. Pry cautioned that there is no such thing as an average fatality collision because each has unique factors and circumstances that investigators must fully evaluate.
Detectives are working to verify the traffic signal timings, Pry said, and they have more witnesses to interview. Other work includes obtaining data from the Kia and the BMW, analyzing airbag control module data, completing a collision reconstruction to verify the data and determining the cause or causes.
Both drivers involved in the wreck have mostly clean driving records. The driver of the Kia, 19-year-old Lisa Esparza, appears to have no infractions in Arizona or Washington. The BMW driver, a 42-year-old Tacoma man, received one ticket in Spokane County in 2011 because he was driving a semi truck and bypassed an open weigh station when he was required to exit, according to district court records. The vehicle was also over legal weight. The News Tribune was not able to reach the BMW driver for comment.
Coming to Washington
Felix Begay was best friends with another man on the trip, Erick Tsosie, according to Begay’s sister. The two graduated from Monument Valley High School in 2017, and as aspiring entrepreneurs, they had dreams of bringing more diverse food options to their small town on the Navajo reservation.
Food was Begay’s love language, his sister said, and she remembers him bringing home skills and recipes from a high school cooking class. He taught her how to hold a knife properly and often made a Japanese noodle stir-fry.
Phillisa Begay said their town of about 5,600 has a grocery store, gas stations and a couple of fast-food restaurants. Beyond bringing in Asian cuisine, her brother wanted to attract bigger businesses, such as Walmart or a Fry’s food store so people wouldn’t have to travel as far for necessities. Phillisa Begay said it’s at least a two-hour drive one way to get to the nearest city bordering the reservation.
When Felix Begay started getting involved with Amway, his sister said, he brought home samples of detergent and dietary supplements to get their family’s opinions. Tsosie was also involved, and he’d previously traveled to Las Vegas for another convention. The chance to travel and learn was appealing to Felix, his sister said, and the two planned the trip to Washington state together, eventually driving up from Arizona in separate vehicles.
Why Begay and the others in the car were on the Tideflats on July 16 is unclear to Phillisa Begay. She said an Amway recruiter told her the group left the convention to get a bite to eat, and that was why they all piled into one car. She still has questions for Amway, a multi-billion dollar company that is privately owned and based in Michigan, according to Forbes Magazine. Phillisa Begay questioned whether the convention had catering, and she wants to know why her brother and others had to use their own expenses to attend the event.
Amway describes itself as the world’s largest direct-selling company, with “independent business owners” selling their nutrition, beauty, personal care and home products. The New York Times has called it a multilevel marketing company. The Tacoma convention was held in conjunction with World Wide Group, a Spokane-based company that is a provider for Amway training and education.
“If you’re a worldwide company, then why wouldn’t you fly out your entrepreneurs to go to this convention?” Phillisa Begay said. “Why isn’t their safety, you know, involved in all this?”
The News Tribune posed these questions to World Wide Group. In an email, a representative for the company said their events for Amway training and education are optional, and it is up to the discretion of each individual business owner to decide whether to make the investment to attend. The representative said concessions are available at every training seminar they host, and attendees at the Tacoma event had the option to buy meals at the venue.
CEO Doug Reichel said the victims’ deaths were a tragic loss, and he said World Wide Group extends its deepest condolences to their families, friends and loved ones. He urged anyone with information about the incident to contact authorities.
“The individuals who lost their lives were not just valued members of our community, but were exceptional people who brought immense talent, dedication, and spirit to everyone around them,” Reichel said. “They will be sorely missed and their contributions to our organization will never be forgotten.”
The phone call about Felix Begay’s death came while Phillisa was at work. Her sister had gotten a call from a medical examiner and then tried to call her. The two had issues getting on the phone, and soon she got a text message that said her brother was gone. She cried in the lobby and was dismissed to be with her family.
Phillisa Begay is the eldest in a family of two boys and four girls. They were close with one another growing up. Now, adjusting to life without her brother has been painful, she said. Her parents are grieving, along with her siblings. It’s the first time she’s seen her father cry, and she said her family tries to make it seem like he’s still here.
“My sister would send him a text, but it hits her when she’s not going to get a response back,” Phillisa Begay said.
Healing after tragedy
A week after the wreck, relatives of all six victims and the man who survived gathered at the Unity of Phoenix Spiritual Center, a nondenominational church in the city’s Deer Valley neighborhood. Families greeted one another and spoke about those they lost.
Joyce Kaye, mother of Calsie Sockyma, said it was helpful to speak about her daughter, a Hopi Tribe member who she described as an independent and resilient person who advocated for issues of food insecurity and water rights. Kaye said she was running on adrenaline after the wreck, and after that subsided she felt some depression. Now she’s taking life day-by-day.
Kaye said she knows there’s a protocol to the collision investigation, and she trusts that the State Patrol will come to a conclusion. When she first heard about what happened, she said her first impulse was to be angry — “How could they fit that many people in that small car?” — but she falls back on the knowledge that her daughter was traveling to follow her dreams.
“I can’t bring her back, but I can just celebrate her life with her every day that I live my life on that spiritual road, with her,” Kaye said. “Because I always meet her out there. I might not get to see her today, but she’ll tell me it’s not your time, Mom, just get up, you have work to do. So I work for her today. That’s how I honor her.”
Questions about the wreck aren’t something Kaye has allowed herself to really consider, she said. For now, she’s focused on her own peace and the lessons she said her daughter has for her and her community. She said she hopes Sockyma’s death teaches others the value of safety and keeping in contact with one another.
Kaye said she couldn’t thank Amway enough for helping her in the weeks after the incident. She said a representative reached out to offer to pay the costs of transporting her daughter’s body home.
Sockyma was laid to rest July 30 in Moenkopi, Arizona. In the Hopi Tribe, Kaye said, deceased are prepared for burial with a final washing, and they are given prayer feathers and dressed in traditional clothing before the body is put into the fetal position and returned to the earth without a casket.
The day that Sockyma was taken out of the funeral home, Kaye said the manager, a former high-school classmate, spotted a hummingbird.
“I said, ‘Yes, they’re telling us she’s good to go,’” Kaye said. “She’s finally home.”
