Man sentenced in I-5 wreck in Pierce County that killed ‘a loved and amazing woman’
A Kent man has pleaded guilty for his role in an Interstate 5 hit-and-run wreck that left a Tacoma woman dead last year.
Andriy Myronets, 22, pleaded guilty and was sentenced Friday for vehicular homicide and failure to remain at an accident scene resulting in death. Pierce County Superior Court Judge Stanley Rumbaugh sentenced Myronets to 4 years, 6 months in prison for the July 20, 2023 wreck, court records show.
Myronets was at the wheel of a BMW that hit motorcyclist Morgan Baker, 48, in the northbound lanes of I-5 near Fife. Baker was thrown from her motorcycle and died at the scene, records show.
The BMW drove off but was found on its top about a mile from the original collision, troopers said. The driver was not inside. Troopers later stopped a black Mercedes in the area. The driver told them he was Myronets’ cousin and had been called to give him a ride, court records show.
Video surveillance troopers obtained from a nearby convenience store showed a man matching Myronets’ description some time later, court records show. The person in the video was not wearing a shirt and appeared to be injured.
Several hours later, an attorney called Washington State Patrol to make arrangements for Myronets to turn himself in, documents show. He was arrested outside the attorney’s office and booked into the Pierce County Jail.
Investigators learned that Myronets drove at high speed, which led to his vehicle crashing with Baker’s motorcycle.
Nearly 40 victim-impact statements from Baker’s family members and loved ones were submitted prior to Myronets’ sentencing, court records show. A majority of the statements described what Baker meant to the people who loved her and how her death as affected them.
The sister of Baker’s wife said in a statement that hearing the news of the fatal crash caused her to experience a panic attack for the first time.
“The trauma of this crime left a scar on the nervous systems of Mo’s family and friends,” the statement said. “She was my sister Jenna’s person. The two of them together were inspiring to watch.”
Baker was described as generous with a distinctive sense of humor, the statement said. She was reliably honest, strong and steady.
Baker’s sister said in a statement that the aftermath of the crash shattered their family. She urged the court to give Myronets a maximum sentence of 54 months in prison.
“She should not be a statistic, she was an amazing individual whose life was cut short by someone’s reckless disregard for human life,” the statement said.
A sentencing memorandum written by prosecutors said that Baker showed up for her loved ones and her absence is a “constant echo in the void.”
“[Baker] truly was a loved and amazing woman full of energy and life; she is terribly missed,” the memorandum said.
