Woman in Ephrata-area collision ID’d; Zillah man jailed on vehicular homicide

EPHRATA — A Yakima County woman was identified Wednesday as the victim in a fatal collision near Ephrata Tuesday morning.

According to the Grant County Sheriff’s Office, Danielle Shockey, 32, originally from Ephrata, was killed after the driver of the vehicle she was in lost control during a police chase on Dodson Road.

Deputies arrested Augustine J. Avalos, 44, of Zillah on suspicion of vehicular homicide, the GCSO announced. Avalos was the driver of the vehicle, and is currently being held in the Grant County Jail.

A second passenger, Bradley P. Santoyo, 25, of Grandview, was not injured. The GCSO said the investigation into the incident is ongoing.

According to GCSO spokesperson Kyle Foreman, the pursuit began at around 2 a.m. Tuesday when a suspicious person was reported in the 1200 block of Sunset Street Southeast, inside the Ephrata city limits.

After noticing the police officer, Avalos, Santoyo and Shockey fled the scene south “at a high rate of speed,” with Avalos losing control of the vehicle near the intersection of Road 12.8 and Dodson Road.

A section of Dodson Road between Road 14 Northwest and Neva Lake Road was closed Tuesday morning as officers from across Grant County investigated the accident.

The GCSO said Shockey’s next of kin have been notified.

Charles H. Featherstone can be reached at cfeatherstone@columbiabasinherald.com.