19-Year-Old Killed In University Place Hit-And-Run

UNIVERSITY PLACE, WA — A 19-year-old woman has died after a hit-and-run crash in University Place.

According to the Pierce County Sheriff's Department, just before 1 a.m. Sunday morning, their deputies were called to a crash in the 6700 block of 35th St. W. in University Place.

One deputy had been responding to an unrelated noise call nearby on 35th street and made it to the crash scene fairly quickly. However, even though witnesses had told dispatchers that it was a two-car collision, by the time the deputy arrived only one car remained: a blue Mazda 3, heavily damaged and lying on the side of the road.

Inside, the deputy found the driver, a 19-year-old woman, unresponsive and critically injured. She died shortly after.

While searching the area, investigators found a heavily damaged silver Cadillac STS about a block east from the Mazda. Deputies say, based on the state of the car and their discovery of a single black shoe on the drivers side floor, they believed that the Cadillac's driver had also been injured, but had fled the scene on foot. Witnesses who heard the crash said they had seen several vehicles stop, and people yelling about "getting out of there."

Deputies looked up the registered owners of the Cadillac, and found that their 17-year-old son had been injured that morning and booked into a nearby hospital. When they arrived, the boy had a single shoe, one that matched the shoe left in the Cadillac.

Deputies have obtained a blood draw search warrant to try and determine if the 17-year-old was under the influence at the time of the crash. Until further notice, deputies say he remains in the hospital and their investigation is ongoing.