Davis Law Group, P.S.

Drunk Driver Charged for Killing College Student l Seattle Crosswalk Accident Attorney

On Monday, Jan. 7, a South Korean college student, Un Kyu Choi, 25, was fatally struck in a hit-and-run crash in Bellingham.  This was the same day he arrived in the United States.  The driver who killed him has been charged with vehicular homicide. 

The 20 year-old driver had been drinking.  Her blood alcohol level registered nearly 0.10 BAC, over the legal limit of 0.08 BAC.  According to the police report, the driver had in her possession a vial of Xanax, an anti-anxiety drug.  12 pills were missing from the vial which held a total of 30 tablets.  The prescription was purchased earlier in the day. 

Choi was an exchange student from Korea.  Police Sgt. David W. Richards said Choi and other exchange students had taken a bus to Sehome Village, where he made a telephone call to his parents in Korea. Rather than waiting for a bus back to campus, Choi and a friend began walking back to their living quarters.  "When they got to the point where the trail goes into the woods — it's night, it's dark, they've only been here (in the United States) for a couple hours — they walked down closer to the road," where the accident occurred, Richards said.

The driver who hit Choi stopped momentarily but then left the scene.  A charge of hit and run was also added to the indictment.