The State Patrol is seeking witnesses to a fatal hit and run that killed a Good Samaritan who stopped to help a Sequim motorist on Sedgwick Road in south Kitsap County.
Katherine G. Phillips, 34, of Belfair, had stopped to assist Katy D. Meeker, 34, of Sequim at 5 a.m. Thursday, March 22, when a vehicle struck Phillips and continued on, according to a State Patrol collision memo.
Phillips, a ferry worker who was heading home after her overnight shift, was pronounced dead at the scene. Meeker was not injured.
Troopers have located the car that hit Phillips and did not stop, the State Patrol announced on March 24. The car is a gold, 2002 Chevrolet Impala, they said. It will be processed by the State Patrol crime lab for evidence.
“Detectives would like to speak with anyone who may have observed the Chevrolet Impala or have in-vehicle video from a ferry crossing that arrived at the Southworth ferry dock at 4:50 a.m. on Thursday,” the State Patrol said in a news release.
Those with information are asked to contact Detective Krista Hedstrom at 360-473-0142 or Krista.Hedstrom@wsp.wa.gov or Detective Sergent Mark Wilson at 360-473-0141 or Mark.Wilson@wsp.wa.gov.
The death occurred on Sedgwick Road, or state Highway 160, near Peppermill Place southeast of Port Orchard.
Sedgwick Road was blocked for four hours, 38 minutes, troopers said.
The State Patrol said Meeker’s Nissan Pathfinder had become disabled and Phillips stopped to offer assistance.
Phillips and Meeker were both crouched in the roadway attempting to fix the Pathfinder when an unknown vehicle approached from the west, struck Phillips and continued, the State Patrol said.
Sherry Jones, who considered Phillips a friend, told KOMO-News that Phillips stopped at her workplace, the Sedgwick One Stop Chevron in Port Orchard, on Thursday morning to fill a gas can for a stranded motorist.
“She came in and (was) her bubbly self like she always is,” Jones told the news station.
She put $10 worth of gas on her card, then was out the door to return to the stranded vehicle.
Jones said it was exactly 4:49 a.m. when Phillips bought the gas. It was 10 minutes later State Patrol got a call that a pedestrian had been hit — it was Phillips.
“We’re grieving. Even me. It’s tough” said Phil Olwell who was Phillips’ supervisor at the Southworth Ferry Terminal. On March 23, workers at the Southworth Ferry terminal worse purple ribbons with a “K” in memory of Phillips.
“We need to memorialize her and celebrate her, and then we need to never forget her. She was that important to me and this work group,” he told KOMO-News.
Olwell said their hearts are not only heavy for their beloved co-worker but also for the woman who Katie tried to help. She was not injured during the hit-and-run but was shaken up.
“I’m sure that she is in a tough spot, and if we could or I could we’d wrap our arms around her and let her know that she’s not alone and that the person that stopped and helped her would do it again,” Olwell said.
Phillips wasn’t just a customer, Jones told KOMO-News. She was a friend who would do anything to help anyone.
“That’s what makes me angry because of the kind of person she is,” Jones said. “She stopped to help a stranger and a stranger did this to her. A person did this to her.”
Jones hopes the person who did this will now do the right thing.
“You need to come forward, definitely. You really truly do. Really truly do. It’s going to be worse in the end,” Jones sid. “She didn’t deserve this. She didn’t deserve this.”
Phillips’ co-workers set up an account at Washington State Employees Credit Union to help her family. It is called the Katie Phillips Fund.
Her friends have started a GoFundMe page at https://www.gofundme.com/helpouribusister to help her family.
The page had raised $6,355 of a $120,000 goal as of Saturday, March 24.
