Warden boy dies in accident

ROYAL CITY - Four-year-old Jose Juan Valdivia died when a car and semitruck collided Monday afternoon on Frenchman Hills Road, 8 miles northeast of Royal City.

Mariana Juarez Valdivia, 16, Warden, was driving a 1995 Honda Civic sedan when she reportedly failed to stop at a stop sign at the intersection of Frenchman Hills Road and Dodson Road South, Grant County Undersheriff John Turley said.

The vehicle she was driving was struck in the back half by an oncoming 1998 Kenworth semitruck hauling two trailers, 40 feet and 24 feet long, loaded with apples, at 57 mph.

According to the 9-1-1 call made by the semitruck driver, and retired Wenatchee school teacher, Kenneth L. Williamson, 67, Wenatchee, Wash., the Honda Civic "slowed at the stop sign and gunned it across the roadway."

"The left rear half of the Honda was completely crushed … she pulled out right in front of him," Turley said. "A 4-year-old boy who was sitting in the back seat did not survive the impact after a futile attempt at CPR by EMT personnel on the scene."

Rosa Maria Valdivia Juarez, 47, Warden, was a passenger in the Honda Civic and was airlifted to a hospital in Wenatchee to recover from her injuries. She reportedly complained of paralysis at the scene, he noted.

Jose Juan Valdivia, Mariana Juarez Valdivia and Rosa Maria Valdivia Juarez are related, but their specific relationships were unclear to investigators, according to Turley.

"The 16-year-old female did not have a license to drive," Turley stated.

It's undetermined if charges will be filed against Mariana Juarez Valdivia.

There was no alcohol involved.

Mariana Juarez Valdivia was transported for non-life threatening injuries and later released from Columbia Basin Hospital in Ephrata.

Williamson was taken to Samaritan Healthcare for observation.

"He did a good job with that truck. It could have been two deaths if he went off the road," Turley said of Williamson's driving. "He kept it under control."