Crime & Safety

Driver in Fatal 520 Wrong Way Crash Pleads Guilty

Michael Anthony Robertson, who was accused of plowing into another car, killing the driver, on State Route 520, pleaded guilty Friday morning as charged to Vehicular Homicide (DUI), according to the King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office.

This article was reported and written by Venice Buhain.

Michael Anthony Robertson, who was accused of plowing into another car, killing the driver, on State Route 520, pleaded guilty Friday morning as charged to Vehicular Homicide (DUI), according to the King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office.

Robertson was charged in a collision on SR-520 that killed Morgan Williams, 58,  a Seattle woman who was driving to work at Eddie Bauer in Bellevue in the early morning of April 4. 

Prosecutors say Robertson was under the influence of alcohol. Robertson also pleaded guilty to a prior DUI case from Tacoma, according to the prosecuting attorney's office.

According to prosecutors, Robertson was accused of making a U-turn in the eastbound lanes of 520 and attempting to drive back to Seattle just before 5:30 a.m. April 4. Moments later, his Ford Explorer collided near the Montlake on-ramp with a compact car driven by Williams, who later died at Harborview. Williams, a 32-year employee of Eddie Bauer, was on her way to work in Bellevue.

The closing speed of the two cars - or combined velocity -- was estimated at 100 mph. Police say they found an empty bottle of whiskey in Robertson’s Ford Explorer SUV. Robertson was awaiting trial on another DUI charge in Pierce County at the time of the crash.

The sentence range is 78 to 102 months in prison, plus a 24-month sentencing enhancement for the Tacoma DUI. 

Prosecutors will recommend a top of the range sentence of 126 months in prison. Last year, the state legislature approved a bill that doubled the standard range for vehicular homicide (DUI), making it equal to a sentence for manslaughter first degree. Robertson, 25,will be sentenced on July 26 at 1 p.m. before Judge Bruce Heller at the King County Courthouse, the prosecuting attorney's office said.


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