SEATTLE (AP) — A taxi passenger killed in a fiery crash on the Las Vegas Strip has been identified as a 48-year-old woman from Maple Valley.
Sandra Sutton-Wasmund died of multiple blunt force injuries, the Clark County, Nev., coroner’s office said.
Sutton-Wasmund co-owned a dress shop called The Dazzled Dame and had been in Las Vegas attending a trade show with her partner in the shop, said Debbie Tvedt, the office manager for a Maple Valley plumbing company, All Service Plumbing, that Sutton-Wasmund started with her husband, James Wasmund.
“It’s a big loss,” Tvedt said tearfully Friday night. “This woman was everything to this community.
“Sandi was very, very, very active with the Maple Valley Chamber of Commerce and our entire community,” she said.
The Maple Valley-Black Diamond Chamber of Commerce website said Sutton-Wasmund was a board member from 2004 to 2011 before becoming a marketing representative.
Tvedt said her friend was a mother of three — a 17-year-old son, a 12-year-old daughter and an 11-year-old son.
“Sandi was a loving wife, mother, daughter and sister. Her innocent and tragic loss will be felt by all of those who knew and loved her and by the community at large,” said a statement provided to KING-TV in Seattle on behalf of the woman’s family. “Her family appreciates the outpouring of love and support, and respect for privacy, shown throughout this very difficult time.”
Maple Valley is southeast of Seattle.
Sutton-Wasmund was among three people killed in a dramatic, early-morning crash and fire Thursday that started with someone in a Range Rover shooting at a Maserati. The Maserati then hit the cab that Sutton-Wasmund was riding in and burst into flames, triggering a multi-vehicle crash.
The medical examiner said the cab driver, Michael Boldon, also died of multiple blunt force injuries. The Maserati’s driver, Ken Cherry, 27, a rap artist with the stage name Kenny Clutch, died of a gunshot wound to the chest, the medical examiner said.
Sutton-Wasmund was Boldon’s first cab fare of the day, and he was driving her to the airport, the Las Vegas Sun reported.
Police in Las Vegas on Saturday found a black Range Rover SUV in Las Vegas and identified a suspect in the Thursday morning shooting.
Police Capt. Chris Jones said Saturday afternoon that the vehicle was found at an apartment complex east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was impounded as evidence.
Jones said police are looking for 26-year-old Ammar Harris in connection with the shooting. His arrest history in Las Vegas includes charges of kidnapping and pandering.
