By News-Register staff • 

Mac High grad, local woman killed in Highway 18 triple fatal

Photo courtesy Oregon State Police##Three people were killed Saturday afternoon in a two-vehicle crash on Highway 18 in the area of the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum.
Photo courtesy Oregon State Police##Three people were killed Saturday afternoon in a two-vehicle crash on Highway 18 in the area of the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum.

Three people, including a McMinnville woman and a McMinnville High School graduate, were killed early Saturday afternoon in a two-vehicle crash on Highway 18 in the area of the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum.

The Oregon State Police gave this account:

Shortly after 1 p.m., law enforcement and medical personnel responded to the crash.

A preliminary investigation determined a 2001 Pontiac Grand Am driven by Joseph Trent Hawkins, 19, of Salem, was traveling eastbound when he crossed into the westbound lanes for an unknown reason and collided head-on with a 2005 Subaru Legacy.

Hawkins, who was alone and pronounced dead at the scene, graduated from Mac High in 2017.

Subaru driver Roger Lee Verdier, 70, of Vancouver, Washington, was transported by McMinnville Fire Department ambulance to the Willamette Valley Medical Center with serious injuries.

His passengers, Susan Kay Heffel, 60, of McMinnville, and Mary Ann Verdier, 59, of Vancouver, were pronounced dead at the scene.

Hawkins' brother, Jett Hawkins, is a senior at McMinnville High School and plays football for the Grizzlies, according to head coach Ryan McIrvin. He's a tight end and defensive lineman.

McIrvin said the Grizzly team is offering support to their teammate and his family any way it can.

All of the occupants of both vehicles were wearing seat belts.

In addition to the OSP, Amity and McMinnville police departments, the Yamhill County Sheriff's Office and an Oregon Department of Transportation crew responded to the incident.

 

Comments

Joel

Man, that is so tragic. Life is so much more fragile than we sometimes realize. God bless all involved and affected.

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