Driver in Yakima crash that killed 3 charged

YAKIMA — A driver accused of killing three people when he ran a red light in Yakima at high speed and crashed into another vehicle has been booked into jail after being released from a hospital.

Kolby Funkhouser, 20, was charged with three counts of vehicular homicide and two counts of vehicular assault, police Lt. Chad Stevens told the Yakima Herald-Republic. Funkhouser was booked into jail Saturday.

Funkhouser was driving a Ford Escort on Aug. 30 when he ran the light and crashed into a Mitsubishi Galant driven by Kisha Whitefoot, 23, of Wapato, authorities said.

Funkhouser’s passenger, Mason Euteneier, 23, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Whitefoot was treated at Yakima Valley Memorial and released that evening, city spokesman Randy Beehler said. Two of her passengers, Kiona Whitefoot, 20, and Steve Bueno, 19, died from their injuries, authorities said.

Another passenger in the Galant, the 5-year-old daughter of Kisha Whitefoot, was taken to Yakima Valley Memorial and then to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle where she is in stable condition, according to Beehler.

“Intoxicants and speed are suspected to be causing factors in the accident,” Beehler said.

It wasn’t immediately known if Funkhouser has a lawyer to comment on the case.