KIRO Seattle
SIGN IN
Sign in using your kiro profile
Sign in using you account with:
Sign Up / Sign In
Welcome Back
Sign Up / Sign In
Welcome back. Please sign in
You’re Almost Done!
Please confirm the information below before signing in.
REGISTER
By submitting your registration information, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
Why are we asking this?
We collect zip code so that we may produce news, weather, special offers and other content related to your specific geographic area.
Thank you for registering!
We have sent a confirmation email to <* data_emailAddress *>. Please check your email and click on the link to activate your account.
Thank you for registering!
We look forward to witnessing you on [website] frequently. Visit us and sign in to update your profile, receive the latest news and keep up to date with mobile alerts.
Click here to come back to the page you were visiting.
Reset your password
Don’t worry, it happens. We’ll send you a link to create a fresh password.
Email sent
We have sent you an email with a link to switch your password.
Sign in to finish account merge
Thanks for verifying your email address
Resend Email Verification
Sorry we could not verify that email address. Come in your email below and we’ll send you another email.
Resend Email Verification
Click submit to receive another verification email
Your Verification Email Has Been Sent
Check your email for a verification link
- 12394754 Home
- 12394946 Live
Stolen car involved in fatal crash belonged to Lyft driver, single mother
COVINGTON, Wash. – A Covington woman says she scarcely knew a man police say caused a fatal crash in Fife.
Kelli Amondson took one glance at the KIRO seven pics of the mangled stolen car which rammed three cars and killed a woman while racing away from police Thursday morning, and she knew the car at the center of it all was hers.
Related Headlines
Woman killed by driver fleeing from police in Fife
“That car was my baby,” said Amondson. “I used that car to make a living for my kids. It makes me sick knowing that my car did that, because I could never imagine my car hurting somebody, ever.”
Fife police say 43-year-old Michel Donovan Beal, who’d been in and out of prison recently, sped away from Puyallup Tribal Police when they attempted to pull him over. John Weymer, a spokesman for the Puyallup Tribe, said a tribal officer ran the plate on the car, eyed it was stolen, and attempted to pull over the driver.
Weymer said the officer did not pursue the stolen car at a high rate of speed, but the driver sped through a crimson light to elude police.
Witnesses along Pacific Highway East told KIRO seven the car was heading into an intersection at about seventy mph when it slammed into three other cars, killing a 54-year-old woman who was waiting to make a left turn.
Police say Beal ran from the wreckage, but was caught by police at an auto dealership a block away.
Amondson says friends introduced her to Beal in Auburn last week. He asked her for a rail home, but she says he took her keys and stole the car she used for two jobs to support her four kids, including one job as a Lyft driver.
“I do drive for Lyft and I was beginning to get somewhere,” said Amondson. “I was hoping for a house for me and my four kids by the end of the summer, and now everything just went down the drain.”
Amondson put photos of her car on Facebook, hoping a friend or police would find it so she could work again. Now it’s regarded as evidence in a potential murder case, and she believes that will slow her insurance claim.
“It was my very first car I’d bought alone as a single mom, and it’s sickening,” Amondson said. “Now I’m attempting to figure out how in the world I’m going to get another vehicle?”
Amondson’s family began a GoFundMe page to help her get access to a vehicle to work while the investigation resumes.