Whalawitsa enters ‘not guilty’ plea

Published 9:41 am Thursday, October 2, 2008

Snoqualmie resident Debra Whalawitsa pleaded not guilty to a charge stemming from the car crash that killed her son last fall.

Debra Whalawitsa entered a not guilty plea to the single count of felony hit and run in a May 14 arraignment in King County Superior Court.

Her next court appearance is a pretrial hearing set for Tuesday, May 29.

The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office filed a single count of felony hit and run May 7 in connection with the November 2006 car accident that killed 29-year-old Calijah Whalawitsa.

According to charging documents, Whal-awitsa was driving her Ford Taurus during the early morning hours of Nov. 19, 2006. Her son, Calijah Whalawitsa, was riding with her as she drove on Boalch Avenue and failed to negotiate the Park Avenue intersection, leaving the roadway. The car went down an embankment toward a slough of the Snoqualmie River, rolled onto its top and came to rest near the water’s edge.

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