Mother dies, baby injured in I-5 Saturday night crash near Kent

A 21-year-old Bellevue woman died and her baby daughter was seriously injured in a four-vehicle crash Saturday along Interstate 5 near Kent.

Anjelika Holland, 21, died in the crash at about 8:47 p.m. Saturday along northbound I-5 just south of South 188th Street, according to the Washington State Patrol. Holland is a 2015 graduate of Auburn Mountainview High School, according to her Facebook page.

Holland was driving a 2003 Saturn L200 when the car in front of her slowed due to traffic. Holland swerved, but hit the vehicle in front of her and a guardrail before a third vehicle hit the Saturn, which came to a rest in the fourth and fifth lanes facing the wrong direction.

A fourth car then struck the Saturn. Holland was ejected from the vehicle and died at the scene. She was not wearing a seat belt. Paramedics transported her baby, Arista Holland, who was in a car seat, to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. As of Monday afternoon, Arista remained in critical condition in ICU, according to a hospital spokeswoman.

The driver and a passenger in the fourth vehicle, a 2017 Toyota Highlander, were treated for injuries at the scene. Nobody else was injured. The Saturn and Toyota Highlander were each totaled. The other cars were driven from the scene.

Speed by Holland’s vehicle was the cause of the crash, according to the State Patrol. Drugs or alcohol were not involved.

“Essentially this has to do with the correlation of the speed of the vehicle and road or traffic conditions,” State Patrol spokesman Rick Johnson said about speed as the cause. “If the vehicle was going slower, the collision could have been avoided. The (actual) speed of the vehicle will be determined by the mapping once the detectives download and complete their part of the incident.”

Relatives and friends of Holland started GoFundMe.com accounts to cover funeral expenses for Anjelika and medical costs for Arista, who is 6 months old, according to the account.

“Arista is in the intensive care unit fighting for her life at Harborview Medical Center surrounded by close family and a lot of love,” according to the GoFundMe post. “The outcome of her care is still to be determined but doctors and medical staff are monitoring her 24/7.”