TACOMA, Wash. — A lawsuit alleges local and state officials knew a Tacoma intersection was unsafe but didn't address it prior to a fatal 2023 crash that left six young people dead.
The family of 19-year-old victim Cerra Corner filed the lawsuit in a Pierce County court on June 4. Among the defendants in the suit are the Port of Tacoma, City of Tacoma, Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT), as well as the drivers of both vehicles involved and the person who had rented the vehicle that contained the six people who were killed, including Corner.
On July 16, 2023, officials said a gray Kia Forte hatchback was traveling eastbound on Alexander Avenue when a BMW SUV traveling northbound on state Route 509 collided with the vehicle. Of the seven people inside the Kia at the time of the crash, five were pronounced dead at the scene and one other later died at the hospital.
The lawsuit cites a May 2020 Intersection Control Evaluation that found 107 reported crashes at the SR 509 and Alexander Avenue intersection from 2013-18. The evaluation further concluded that a roundabout "would be expected to provide a noticeable reduction in the number of fatal and injury crashes," the lawsuit states.
In October 2020, the suit states WSDOT performed a crash evaluation of the section of SR 509 between Taylor Way and Alexander Avenue. A cited email between employees indicated a high number of crashes caused by red light running. The Kia carrying the six people killed in the collision had run a red light prior to the collision, according to prosecutors.
The next month, the various departments talked about improvements to the intersection including recommending a signal warning on SR 509 and a Prepare To Stop When Flashing sign. Another email from December 2020 was included in the lawsuit, which showed discussion and data around the crash history of the intersection.
Ninety-nine reported collisions had been found, including one fatality, from 2018 through the end of 2022. "The Alexander Avenue intersection posed a foreseeable hazard which Defendants could have, yet chose not to, mitigate," the lawsuit states.
“Everybody who was looking at it in terms of government agencies knew that that intersection was seriously hurting people and knew that something should have been done,” said Darrell Cochran, the attorney representing the family of 19-year-old Corner.
The driver of the BMW that collided with the Kia "breached duty of care" in the collision, the lawsuit states. Prosecutors did not end up filing any charges in the collision, despite the BMW being found to have been going about 10 miles per hour over the speed limit.
“But for the Kia entering the intersection on a red light, the BMW would have continued through the intersection without the collision occurring," prosecutors said in a memo.
A representative for the estate of Lisa Esparza, the driver of the Kia who was killed, is also a defendant in the suit. Lawyers say Esparza was entrusted to drive the rented Kia despite being under the legal age to rent a car in Washington state. Another man who rented the vehicle and allowed Esparza to drive it is also named as a defendant in the suit.
The City of Tacoma said in a 2023 statement the intersection will be reconstructed as part of WSDOT's SR 167 Completion Project. The current phase of the project, which is focused on freight mobility issues, will be complete by 2026.
The suit is seeking unspecified damages and attorney fees. A trial date is tentatively set for June 2025.
KING 5's Quixem Ramirez contributed to this report.