By Katya Yefimova
Herald Writer
ARLINGTON — In August 2004, Dawn Bruce made a decision she will regret for the rest of her life.
She drove drunk. She was in a crash. Her 5-year-old daughter Destiny lost her life.
Bruce, 48, of Snohomish, never intended to go anywhere that night, but circumstances pushed her to get behind the wheel. She pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide and thought long and hard about her life while in prison.
When she got out, she joined the Snohomish County DUI Victim Panel.
Bruce and about 10 other advocates held a peaceful protest against drunk driving on Saturday morning at the I-5 overpass at the Arlington exit.
A few hours earlier, a 26-year-old Arlington man was hit and killed early in the morning by an alleged drunk driver.
The man was walking in the 10400 block of Smokey Point Boulevard just after 2 a.m. when a driver struck him and left the scene, Marysville police Cmdr. Robb Lamoureux said. When medics arrived, passersby were performing CPR but the man couldn't be revived.
Meanwhile, a Washington State Patrol trooper stopped a vehicle speeding in the area. The driver asked the trooper what he had hit, and the trooper contacted Marysville police.
The driver, 34, of Marysville, allegedly had a blood alcohol level of .177, Lamoureux said. That's more than twice the legal limit.
The man was booked into the Snohomish County Jail for investigation of vehicular homicide. The victim's name wasn't immediately released.
The death came just days after prosecutors charged another man in what officials have called the worst drunken-driving crash in Snohomish County's recent memory.
Investigators say Matthew McDonald, 27, was drunk when he ran a stop sign at Highway 9 near Marysville Nov. 29, smashing into a Hyundai carrying two Clearview couples. McDonald allegedly had a blood alcohol level of .123. Prosecutors on Wednesday charged him with four counts of vehicular homicide.
For Bruce, telling her story became a way to reach others. “I want to raise awareness to honor my daughter and try to make a difference in somebody else's life,” she said.
Bruce has been involved with the victims panel for more than three years, speaking at schools and events.
She doesn't drink anymore and tells her friends they can always count on her for a safe ride home.
“In the blink of an eye, your whole life can change,” she said. “To know that my actions caused the death of my child; that's an awful thing to live with.”
For information on your Washington State DUI please contact our Snohomish County DUI attorneys, King County DUI attorneys, Island County DUI attorneys, or Skagit County DUI attorneys at 425-493-1115 or check out our website at http://www.washdui.com
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