Mirror staff reports:
Charges have been filed in a fatal car crash in Federal Way.
Michelle Dittamore, 31, was charged Wednesday with one count of vehicular homicide for causing a head-on collision that killed Jana Lynne Berry, 48.
The collision occurred around 11 p.m. June 7 between three vehicles in the 37000 block of Pacific Highway South.
According to police, Dittamore’s Honda S2000 was heading northbound on Pacific Highway without its lights on. The vehicle crossed the center line and struck the victim’s Honda Civic head-on, causing the Civic to go airborne. The Civic landed sideways and was struck by a third driver.
Dittamore’s car struck a second car, injuring the driver, according to county prosecutors. Police reported that she was intoxicated at the scene. According to police, Dittamore had no prior DUI convictions, although she was driving with a suspended license. She also had her 4-year-old son in the car with her at the time of the accident. The child suffered minor injuries.
The third driver, an adult male, suffered only minor injuries.
The collision occurred on the same day that two new state laws went into effect. The first law raised the prison sentence for the crime of vehicular homicide. The second law added a 12-month sentencing enhancement for having a child under age 16 in the vehicle at the time she caused the collision.
Dittamore is being held on $250,000 bail. Her arraignment is June 25 at Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent.