Pierce County driver sentenced for wrong-way crash that killed 2 JBLM soldiers
A woman who drove drunk with her baby in the car when she went the wrong way on a Pierce County highway and collided with another vehicle, killing two soldiers stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord and injuring her daughter, has been sentenced to 11 years in prison.
Candy Kateve Soita, 24, pleaded guilty Sept. 5 in Superior Court to two counts of DUI vehicular homicide and DUI vehicular assault. Judge André Peñalver imposed her sentence the same day, giving her a punishment that included a one-year enhancement because a passenger under age 16 was in her vehicle when the vehicular homicide occurred.
Soita’s blood-alcohol content was found to be 0.14 when her blood was drawn three-and-a-half hours after the collision, above the legal limit of 0.08. Prosecutors said she admitted to consuming five shots as well as wine and was driving home.
The two soldiers killed in the June 2, 2024 collision on state Route 512 were Spc. Charles T. Fairbairn, 29 of Georgia, and Spc. Wendell T. Cerio, 22 of Arizona. Fairbarn was an infantryman and Cerio was a combat medic. A third soldier in the vehicle survived the wreck.
In a victim-impact statement, Cerio’s grandmother said Soita’s reckless choice to drive under the influence ended two lives and left their families shattered. Cerio’s fiance said Cerio was a kind and honest man who was passionate about his work and those he loved.
“I want justice because nothing can ever bring them back,” the fiance wrote.
Soita had no prior criminal history, according to court records. At sentencing, she faced a sentencing range of about 10 to 13 years in prison. Arguing for a sentence at the low end of that range, Soita’s defense attorney, Jared Ausserer, noted in a sentencing memorandum that Soita had chosen to take responsibility for her actions by pleading guilty.
“The loss resulting from the defendant’s conduct is enormous and tragic, but the State provided no basis to support a high-end sentence,” Ausserer wrote. “In fact, a low-end sentence is consistent with other defendants committing similar offenses where they take responsibility.”
Ausserer said Soita was an immigrant residing in the United States on an asylum visa.
Prosecutors’ argument for a high-end sentence included that Soita ignored the wellbeing of other drivers and chose to drive while extremely intoxicated. Deputy prosecuting attorney Miriam Norman wrote that it was “nigh impossible” to go onto a freeway the wrong way unless a person is too intoxicated to realize it.
“Signs did not stop Defendant, other motorists who called Defendant in and honked at her, swerved out of the way, did not stop Defendant,” Norman wrote. “In the most tragic and awful events, the victim vehicle stopped Defendant.”
Prosecutors said concerned citizens reported Soita driving the wrong way on state Route 512 to 911 at 2 a.m., minutes before the fatal crash. The soldiers were on their way back to JBLM when Soita’s Ford Edge SUV collided head-on with the soldiers’ Chrysler 300. Prosecutors said evidence showed the impact caused the Chrysler to swerve to the right and roll onto the top of the SUV.
Cerio, who had been sleeping in the backseat, was ejected from the vehicle, and Fairbarn, who was driving, was partially ejected but held in place by his seatbelt, according to court records. Both men were pronounced dead at the scene.
Soita’s 17-month-old daughter was found screaming inside Soita’s SUV and trying to crawl into the front seat by a responding Washington State Patrol trooper. Prosecutors said she was later determined to have a fracture from the collision.
In other news from Superior Court
‘Chicken scam lady’ sentenced for extortion, theft from Pierce, King county businesses
A 33-year-old woman whose scams at Puget Sound businesses, such as one attempt to get a refund for chicken she said had gone bad, earned her the not-so-clever nickname “chicken scam lady” has been sentenced to 3-and-a-half years in prison.
Jasmine Latrice Willie pleaded guilty Aug. 25 to first-degree organized retail theft and two counts of second-degree organized retail theft for incidents that occurred in Pierce and King counties between 2020 and 2022.
One of her convictions for second-degree organized retail theft was dismissed at sentencing as part of a resolution connected to offenses in King County.
Judge Matthew Thomas sentenced Willie on Sept. 2, imposing a punishment below the standard range of about four to five years in prison. Willie also pleaded guilty that day to second-degree extortion for similar scams. She was given 38 months for that crime, to be served concurrently with her other prison term.
Willie has spent time in jail for previous felony convictions — she has at least six prior convictions for retail thefts — but this is her first prison sentence. The Lakewood Police Department said after Willie was arrested last year that she was known for demanding refunds at businesses for items she’d never purchased and also falsely accused businesses of discriminating against her based on her race.
Her string of thefts in this case targeted a Japanese homegoods store, Daiso, and Dutch Bros coffee shop in Lakewood, as well as a smoothie shop, a Best Buy and a Walmart store. The thefts amounted to more than $5,000.
Man gets 7 years in prison for fatal DUI wreck in Parkland
A 20-year-old man has been sentenced to seven years in prison for driving under the influence and causing a collision that killed a young father in Parkland.
Alan Eufracio-Vasquez pleaded guilty Sept. 3 to DUI vehicular homicide for the collision that killed 24-year-old Triston Smith, who was a father to a 4-year-old girl.
Judge Shelly Moss sentenced the defendant the same day, giving him a punishment near the middle of the standard sentencing range.
The wreck occurred shortly after 1 a.m. on Spanaway Loop Road. According to the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office, Smith’s vehicle was struck head-on, then crashed into a telephone pole. Crews from Central Pierce Fire & Rescue extricated him from his car and transported him to a hospital. He died two days later.
A deputy found Eufracio-Vasquez in his vehicle farther down the road. He was taken to a hospital and had his blood drawn. According to court records, his blood-alcohol content was found to be 0.11, which is above the legal limit of .08.
Friends and family of Smith submitted dozens of pages of victim-impact statements to the court ahead of Eufracio-Vasquez’s sentencing hearing. His aunt wrote that losing Smith in a “senseless car accident” had devastated their family beyond measure.
“The individual who caused this tragedy must be held responsible,” Smith’s aunt wrote. “Though they are young, they made the conscious decision to drink and drive, and that decision had fatal consequences. To excuse this behavior or to lessen the weight of it because of their age would only diminish the value of my nephew’s life and the pain we are experiencing.”
