A Vancouver man is facing charges of vehicular assault and homicide after his car slammed into vehicles on an Interstate 5 offramp, leaving one person dead at the scene and resulting in the death of a Ridgefield man who later died of his injuries at a hospital.
On Dec. 27, the Washington State Patrol confirmed Jorge Santiago-Joaquin, 21, of Ridgefield, died at PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center. He, alongside Ying Ting, 36, of Portland, died as a result of the Dec. 18 crash when a vehicle driven by Derek Cunningham, 33, of Vancouver, hit Ting’s disabled vehicle at the southbound exit on I-5 at 78th Street.
According to a probable cause affidavit for Cunningham’s arrest, at about 9:45 p.m. on Dec. 18, Ting was driving on I-5 when he lost control and hit a concrete barrier near the top of the off-ramp. His vehicle came to a rest partially blocking the ramp lane. Kiki Salazar, 20, of Milwaukie, was driving with Santiago-Joaquin as her passenger on the interstate and witnessed the crash. Salazar stopped slightly south of Ting on the off-ramp to assist.
All three were outside of their vehicles and in between the two cars, the affidavit stated, when Cunningham went down the off-ramp and failed to notice the stopped vehicles. He slammed into Ting’s vehicle, which hit the three people and Salazar’s vehicle.
Ting died at the scene, the affidavit stated, while Santiago-Joaquin and Salazar were taken to PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center.
A responding WSP trooper contacted Cunningham, who had “bloodshot watery eyes” and “a strong odor of intoxicants coming from his person,” according to the affidavit. A breathalyzer indicated Cunningham’s blood alcohol level was .153.
Cunningham said he had “one or two” beers that evening, the affidavit stated. He said he was taking the exit when he saw two vehicles swerve around Ting’s car.
Cunningham was transported to PeaceHealth for evaluation, though he did not show signs of trauma other than a small injury to his wrist, according to court records. In an interview, he admitted to having about six to seven beers that evening.
Cunningham was charged with two counts of vehicular assault and one count of vehicular homicide when he was arrested. He was scheduled to be arraigned Dec. 28, but the date was moved to Jan. 4 to account for amended charges considering the death of Santiago-Joaquin, according to court records.
