Updated: Elderly woman dies following suspected drunk-driving collision

Update 7/10:

Barbara Moell, 87, of Marysville has died as a result of injuries sustained in a two-vehicle collision in Monroe on Tuesday, July 4.

Original story

Alcohol is believed to have been a factor in a head-on collision in Monroe that critically injured an 87-year-old woman and sent two more people to the hospital on Tuesday night.

Responders were dispatched around 7:26 p.m. to the intersection of State Route 2 and Roosevelt Road, where both cars were totaled and one person was trapped.

The Monroe Police Department reports an eyewitness helped piece together what led up to the crash.

Arlington resident Lorri Arnett had been eastbound on State Route 2 in her 1994 Chevrolet Blazer, stopping at a red light in the left-turn lane at Roosevelt Road. While 64-year-old Marysville man Thomas Lybarger had the green light, and was crossing the intersection westbound on State Route 2, Arnett suddenly turned into oncoming traffic, according to an MPD news release. Lybarger’s 87-year-old mother-in-law Barbara Moell, also of Marysville, was in the car with him.

Fire District 7 spokesperson Heather Chadwick said the crash was head-on and high-impact. A Monroe officer was first to arrive at the scene, said MPD spokesperson Debbie Willis. The witness to the crash had stayed until responders arrived, she said.

The release states the man told law enforcement he had followed Arnett for about eight miles, and saw her car swerving. After stopping at Roosevelt Road, the witness said “the vehicle then 'gunned' it and made a turn on the red light.” Willis said an officer smelled alcohol on Arnett.

Arnett was transported to Providence Regional Medical Center in Everett, along with Lybarger and Moell, who remains in critical condition as of Wednesday evening, she said. Lybarger sustained serious injuries, according to the release. Arnett was later moved to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle due to the seriousness of her injuries.

Everyone had been wearing their seat belts, according to the release.

Traffic was rerouted while crews worked on the scene, according to Fire District 7. 

“It a very, very serious collision when you have an impaired driver and the type of injuries that were sustained,” Willis said.

It will take up to a few weeks for MPD to get Arnett’s blood work back, Willis said. The case is under investigation, and charges against Arnett are pending, according to the release.