Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) recently honored King County senior deputy prosecuting attorney Amy Freedheim with a lifetime achievement award for her work on impaired driving cases.
Freedheim received the award during the MADD Walk on Sept. 13 at the University of Washington in Seattle. The walk aims to help raise awareness to end impaired driving for good.
“Anyone who knows Amy knows she is a legendary fighter on behalf of victims who have been killed or seriously injured because of impaired driving,” said Douglas Wagoner, spokesperson for the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, in a Sept. 24 email. “She has also championed numerous state laws to protect the public from dangerous drivers.”
Freedheim has worked nearly 35 years with King County. She will be retiring in spring 2026, Wagoner said.
Over the years Freedheim has handled numerous vehicular homicide cases, including the prosecution of Chase Jones, of Kent, whose high-speed crash killed four people in Fairwood in March 2024. Jones received a prison sentence of just over 17 years in April.
Freedheim is the first chair of the Felony Traffic Unit created by King County Prosecuting Attorney Leesa Manion in 2023.
“The purpose of this change is to underscore the importance and seriousness of vehicular homicide and assault cases and their [devastating] impacts on victims and survivors,” Manion said when she formed the unit. “Amy is a recognized expert throughout our state and across our nation. Her decades of expertise and skill in prosecuting serious felony traffic cases, particularly vehicular homicides and vehicular assaults, is unsurpassed.”
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