By STEVE HUNTER

Kent Reporter

Washington State Patrol investigators are seeking witnesses to a head-on crash Sunday on State Route 167 that took the lives of three people.

The 1:35 a.m. crash killed Brittany Meredith, 21, of Kent, as well as a married Renton couple, Cesar and Marina Martinez, 72 and 69.

Specifically, WSP wants witness accounts to help them determine why Meredith entered the northbound lanes of 167 in the wrong direction at South 277th Street.

The accident happened just south of South 277th Street. A third vehicle collided with the Meredith’s car shortly after the initial head-on crash. Nobody was injured in that car, a 1999 BMW 740.

Detectives also want to talk to anyone who might have seen the black 1998 Mazda Protege Meredith was driving.

Witnesses can call detective Jerry Cooper at 360-805-1192 or detective Curt Ladines at 360-805-1160.

“We want to know if there was any erratic driving before she entered the freeway,” said Trooper Christina Martin, in a phone interview Wednesday.

“We want more information on her and how she got on the freeway the wrong way.”

Investigators did not find any bottles or cans of alcohol in Meredith’s car, but did notice the odor of alcohol in the vehicle, Martin said.

“We want to know if there was any erratic driving before she entered the freeway,” the trooper added. The King County Medical Examiner’s Office has yet to release an autopsy report on Meredith.

That report, which would include a blood-alcohol level, could take up to two weeks before it is released, Martin said.