Plea averts trial in fatal street race

Nick Young, a 19-year-old Redmond man, acknowledged in court yesterday that a jury likely would find him guilty of vehicular homicide and vehicular assault for his role in a deadly street race last March in Kirkland.

A day shy of the one-year anniversary of the crash that killed Young's 16-year-old girlfriend and seriously injured an elderly man, Young entered an Alford plea before King County Superior Court Judge Ken Comstock. Before entering the Alford plea, which has the same effect as a guilty plea but does not require an admission of guilt, Young had been scheduled to go on trial today.

On Feb. 23, Young's 17-year-old co-defendant was found guilty of vehicular homicide and vehicular assault after a three-day bench trial before Superior Court Judge Donald Haley. The girl, whom the Seattle Times is not naming because she was tried as a juvenile, faces 3-3/4 to nine months in juvenile detention when she is sentenced March 12.

The girl's attorney argued that Young was at fault for the crash, but the judge ruled the girl was just as culpable because she engaged in a "cat-and-mouse race" that led to the death of Teresa Jones and the hospitalization of Robert Brinkley, now 88.

The crash occurred March 3, 2003, on Kirkland's Northeast 124th Street.

Although Young doesn't remember anything about the crash, he decided on the Alford plea "once we knew what all the evidence was," his attorney, Tom Campbell, said.

Young, who arrived in court yesterday with his father, "had very deep feelings" for Teresa Jones, Campbell said. "Nobody wants to understand he suffered a great loss in losing his pregnant girlfriend."

Amy Freedheim, a King County senior deputy prosecutor responsible for trying the county's felony traffic cases, said she's relieved the Jones family doesn't have to go through another trial, especially as they cope with the first anniversary of Teresa Jones' death.

Young "was clearly egging the race on," Freedheim said. "He was the primary perpetrator of the game these two cars engaged in. He tried to win the race — but instead of falling back, he killed someone."

Young's co-defendant, then 16, and her 15-year-old passenger were driving in her red Mustang; Young, who was 18 at the time, and Jones were in his blue Mitsubishi 3000 GT.

The drivers were playing a game: One would pull ahead of the other, slam on the brakes and force the other to cut out and move back in front, prosecutors have said. As the afternoon wore on, they became more brazen, and witnesses later told police both vehicles were burning and screeching their tires as they raced.

About 4:30 p.m. that day, Young — who was driving east in the right lane in the 11000 block of Northeast 124th Street — apparently got stuck behind a slower vehicle, braked and tried to swing in front of the girl's car in the left lane, court documents say. As he did, the Mustang and the Mitsubishi clipped bumpers; Young's car swerved left, over a median and into oncoming traffic.

The Mitsubishi went into a slide, its passenger side slamming into a sedan driven by Brinkley. The Mustang came to rest in the median, its occupants unhurt.

Jones died soon after. Brinkley broke numerous bones and suffered a traumatic brain injury. He was in a coma for weeks and doesn't remember the collision. He has since moved into an assisted-living facility in Kirkland.

"I don't think Teresa deserved what she got, and Mr. Brinkley definitely didn't deserve what he got," said Teresa's father, Tom Jones, who planned to visit his daughter's grave today. "I want it all to be over with ... and thankfully, we do see a light at the end of the tunnel."

Young, who has been on electronic home detention since June, is to be sentenced April 9. Freedheim will ask a judge to sentence Young to almost 3½ years in prison — the high end of the sentencing range for vehicular homicide — followed by 1½ to three years of community supervision after his release. Campbell, Young's lawyer, is expected to ask for a more lenient sentence.

Sara Jean Green: 206-515-5654 or sgreen@seattletimes.com