Nineteen-year-old charged with vehicular homicide

EPHRATA — A 19-year-old Bonney Lake man is accused of driving drunk when he lost control of his truck and killed one of his passengers.

EPHRATA - A 19-year-old Bonney Lake man is accused of driving drunk when he lost control of his truck and killed one of his passengers.

Robert J. Nix is facing one count of vehicular homicide in Grant County Superior Court for the one-car crash on Steamboat Park Road.

Nix was driving a 2001 Toyota Tundra when his passenger yelled about an animal in the road. The man swerved, reportedly losing control of the vehicle and rolled. The front passenger was allegedly thrown about 20 to 30 feet away from the truck, according to a Washington State Patrol report.

The victim, Harry C. Kirby III, was transported to Coulee Community Hospital, where he died.

An investigator performed a field test on Nix and reportedly determined he was drunk at the time of the collision, according to the report. Results from a blood test were not listed in the report.

Nix reportedly told police he might have drunk a couple of sips of Kirby's beer, but not enough for one beer.