Trial set in crash that killed 3 ex-Stanwood residents

A driver charged with killing three members of a former Stanwood family in a highway crash is to be tried next month in Walla Walla.

Jose Luis Garcia-Mayorga faces eight criminal counts, including three counts each of vehicular homicide and vehicular assault.

Garcia-Mayorga is accused of causing the June 1 head-on crash that killed Suzanne Johns, 38, and two of her children, Ty Johns, 7, and Ashley Johns, 20 months. Johns' husband, Kip Johns, 42, survived the crash along with the couple's son Mike, 13.

The accident took place as the family was leaving for a new life, said Matt Rotter, associate pastor at Stanwood Foursquare Church, which the family had attended. The Johnses had just moved from the Stanwood area and had driven to Lewiston, Idaho, to visit relatives and were on their way to Sacramento, Calif., when the crash took place, Rotter said.

"The kids were asleep in the back, and they decided to drive a little while," he said.

Kip Johns had been an announcer and program manager for radio station KCMS-FM in Shoreline for about 15 years and had most recently worked for a video and television production company on Camano Island. While at KCMS, Johns hosted a show known as "Kip in the Morning" during commuting hours, said Mike Tedesco, KCMS promotions and marketing director.

"After 15 years, he was looking for new opportunities," said Tedesco. He said Johns was excited first about the video-production job and later the move to California.

"The moving vans had already taken all their stuff down there," Tedesco said. "They were on their way."

Kip Johns and his son have been living at a friend's home on Camano Island since the crash. He declined to discuss the accident.

According to charging papers filed in Walla Walla County Superior Court, the crash took place about 11:40 p.m. June 1 about 15 miles west of Walla Walla.

Garcia-Mayorga, 25, of Walla Walla, was driving east from Pasco on Highway 12 when his car allegedly crossed into the westbound lane in front of a minivan being driven by Kip Johns.

Johns tried to avoid the collision by moving into the eastbound lane, but the car also moved back into the eastbound lane, and Johns then tried to move back into the westbound lane, but the vehicles collided in the center of the highway, investigators reported. Everyone in the minivan had worn seat belts, the State Patrol reported.

Numerous beer bottles were found in the car, according to the charging papers.

Garcia-Mayorga's passenger, brother Ramon Garcia-Mayorga, 19, also of Walla Walla, survived the crash. Ramon Garcia-Mayorga suffered a broken leg and was treated at a hospital. Jose Luis Garcia-Mayorga fled on foot and reportedly appeared later at a nearby home, shaken and sweating, and asking to use a telephone.

Garcia-Mayorga was arrested Sept. 18 at another brother's home in Corona, Calif. While searching for the suspect, Walla Walla police Officer Ascencion Castillo discovered that Garcia-Mayorga was wanted in Mexico in a 1996 murder and robbery.

Garcia-Mayorga apparently had fled to Mexico after the car crash but re-entered the United States early last month to avoid the Mexican charges, which could have brought up to 50 years in prison.

Walla Walla County Prosecuting Attorney Jim Nagle said that his office knew little about the Mexican charges, however, and that they would have no effect on the charges filed in Washington state. Garcia-Mayorga's trial in Walla Walla is to start Nov. 18.

Castillo said he had depended on help from the local Hispanic community and from the State Patrol and California authorities in finding Garcia-Mayorga.

Garcia-Mayorga is being held in Walla Walla in lieu of $250,000 bail.

Information from the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin is included in this report. Peyton Whitely: 206-464-2259 or pwhitely@seattletimes.com.