AIRWAY HEIGHTS, Wash. — "Just…lost," Tonda Miller said Tuesday, after learning the night before her son and his girlfriend were killed in a hit and run crash near Airway Heights.
Megan Skillingstad was arrested Sunday morning for allegedly running over and killing two people in Airway Heights over the weekend.
On Monday, Skillingstad appeared in Spokane County Superior Court for her first appearance, where she was charged with two counts of vehicular homicide and two counts of hit-and-run.
According to court documents, Skillingstad told deputies she fell asleep at the wheel and thought she hit a power pole. She also admitted to drinking and driving, which was later confirmed when her blood-alcohol content (BAC) measured at 0.13.
The last time Miller spoke to her son, Desmond, was the day before he was killed. She says he told her he loved her and to 'keep her head up' during a hard time.
Miller says her father died three years ago and, three days after that anniversary, Desmond and girlfriend Kady Mcferon were killed.
“Was wondering why he wasn’t answering my phone call and asking if him and Kady were ok," Miller said. "Come to find out that phone call was made about the time they got hit.”
Miller says Desmond and Mcferon were walking to the casino along West Trails and Flint Road.
Skillingstad, 29, now faces charges of vehicular homicide and hit and run.
"I’m glad they were together, kinda, when they died. But that’s two kids that were taken out of peoples’ lives," Miller said.
She now wonders how to explain it to her son's nearly three year old son.
Though her biggest question is how Skillingstad was on the road at all.
In 2013, Skillingstad was convicted in another hit and run from 2011. Court records show witnesses reported seeing a light-colored sedan hit a bicyclist in front of a Walgreens on Empire and Division in North Spokane before fleeing the scene. Skillingstad, 19 at the time, was later identified as the driver of the vehicle.
As a result, Skillingstad pleaded guilty to one count of failure to remain at the scene of a fatal accident on May 3, 2013. She was sentenced to a year in jail, with the ability to be held in community custody at four and a half months.
Court records show she served 4.5 months and served more than 200 hours of community service.
“She took a life already and that’s two more snapped out in one time," Miller said. "I’m not gonna let this go. I’m not.”
Miller now plans to be at every court appearance.
“For them to just be snapped out of life like that," Miller said, pausing through tears. "Not letting it go. There’s going to be something good coming out of this.”
Skillingstad is being held on a million dollars bond.
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