Child dies after head-on near Royal City

ROYAL CITY — An 11-year-old Quincy boy was killed and another child was seriously injured in a two-vehicle head-on collision near Royal City on June 1, according to the Grant County Sheriff’s office.

According to the GCSO, responders were called at around 2:45 p.m. to the 5500 block of Adams Road South. A 1995 Chevrolet S-10 pickup had collided with a 1992 Honda Accord.

Abigail Leyva, 18, of Quincy was driving the 1992 Honda north on Adams and failed to negotiate a curve, the GCSO reported. The Honda traveled into the southbound lane and collided head-on with the pickup, driven by Fausto Hernandez Vargas, 59, of Othello.

Eleven-year-old Josue Leyva Armenta, a passenger in the Accord, was pronounced dead at the scene. A one-year-old male in a forward facing child safety seat in the Accord was seriously injured.

That child was flown via LifeFlight to Kadlec Medical Center in Richland initially. He was later flown to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, the state’s chief trauma center, and is listed in stable condition with head injuries.

Leyva and Hernandez Vargas received minor injuries and were transported by ambulance to Quincy Valley Medical Center.

The investigation by the GCSO Motor Traffic Unit continues. It reported that neither drugs nor alcohol contributed to the collision. All victims were wearing seat belts correctly, the GCSO reported.

Adams Road South between Road 3 SE and Frenchman Hills Road was closed for several hours during the investigation.