Derek Blaylock was biking home from the bus stop on his way back from work when Kevin Brewer, 51, allegedly struck him with his pick-up truck and drove away from the scene. Blaylock died within an hour. He was 50 years old with a wife and two young children.
Our deepest condolences to his family and all his friends.
“On Tuesday morning, September 21, 2016, [50-year-old] Derek Blaylock dropped his son off at elementary school, parked his car, and rode his bicycle to the bus. He would never see his son again,” the King County Prosecutor wrote in the charging documents. He would be killed while biking on his way back that afternoon.
Blaylock would be the second person Brewer has allegedly killed while driving. He killed Nicole Cheek, a 58-year-old grandmother who was walking in Marysville in 2008, the Herald reported at the time. Brewer also left the scene in 2008, leaving Cheek for dead. Her body was not discovered for more than an hour. Brewer eventually came forward and pleaded guilty to felony hit and run. He said he fell asleep while driving and thought he had hit a mailbox. He was sentenced to three and a half years in prison and was released in December 2011, the Seattle Times reports.
Despite his time in prison, investigators found that “[b]etween 2007 and 2016, Brewer was responsible for at least 10 collisions in which the driving behavior was consistent with that of a driver impaired by alcohol or drugs, or by a fatigued/drowsy driver.” Brewer has sleep apnea, and friends told investigators that “he appears to doze off periodically,” according to the charging documents.
“He is well aware that he is at grave risk for falling asleep while driving,” the Prosecutor noted.
He is not yet in custody, and a warrant has been issued, the Seattle Times reports. His attorney told prosecutors Brewer would be in court for arraignment next week. Prosecutors have requested $100,000 bail with the additional order not to drive.
“This is the second person killed by the defendant while driving,” the Prosecutor wrote in the charging document. “He is a danger to the community.”
Blaylock was biking southbound on 1st Ave NE near NE 95th Street around 4:20 p.m. September 21, 2016, when Brewer struck him.
Due to Northgate Station construction, there was a Jersey barrier along the side of the street at the time. Brewer drove his pickup so far off the road that his truck went up the barrier before coming back down onto the roadway. That’s when he ran over Blaylock.
Brewer initially left the scene, then made a hasty left turn into a driveway before getting out of his truck. A witness followed him and confronted him, told him what he did and walked him back to the scene. He told witnesses that he did not realize he hit anyone or anything despite his truck running up the barrier and slamming back onto the road.
Comments
13 responses to “Man charged with killing father biking in Northgate had also killed woman walking in Marysville”
Vulnerable Users Law?
Vehicular homicide is a more serious charge than the Vulnerable Users Law (Second Degree Negligent Driving). That law was written for cases where death or serious injury was the result of a simple-but-terrible mistake. Vehicular homicide is a criminal charge that accuses him of “operating the motor vehicle with disregard for the safety of others.”
This behavior is no different than driving with a seizure condition. He needs to be taken off the road permanently. So sorry for the families. :((
I realize that this guy might have a medical condition as a contributing factor but it also sounds like he made a lot of bad decisions, operating a vehicle after being awake 24 hours, not taking meds. I’m disappointed that it took a year to charge this guy. Was he driving during the past year? did he hit anyone else? He’s not guilty yet but hopefully this will keep him off the road for a while, if he even turns himself in
When a person kills another person with a car, in most cases they should have their license revoked and also have the right to own a car removed. Found in possession, car impounded and sold off to someone else.
Similar to how someone gets a felony, they can’t buy a gun anymore. Except that this law could and would be dramatically more effective I’d bet. I’m not sure the felony to shooter pipeline is as distinctive as the “negligent driver kills leading to future negligent killing by driving” pipeline. :-/
Anyway, point being, this man should never own a car or posses a drivers license again. Since this is the second death he should obviously be jailed for the safety of the citizenry. He’s proven he can’t make wise decisions or operate safely around fellow Seattleites. This is sickening and extremely sad.
@Adron, what happens if they recover from their ailment?
I feel for the victims and their families, but such over the top, knee jerk reactions are unwarranted.
Keep the guy from handling dangerous machinery until he is healthy enough to do so safely to himself and society.
He can take a taxi, bus, bike, walk or get friends / family to transport him. He does not need to drive and clearly has no regard for his or other people’s safety. Illness does not excuse this repeat behavior.
He can ride a bike.
His medical co dotions dod not prevent him from knowing beforehand that he was a danger to the public and therefore should known not to get behind the wheel of a vehicle. It was that decision to drive when he knew he was at great risk of falling asleep that was the criminal act. Even more culpable than drivers impaired by alcohol or drugs as the argument can be made they were so impaired by the drugs that they didn’t understand they should not have been driving.
“but such over the top, knee jerk reactions are unwarranted.”
With 45,000+ Americans killed on our roads every year you would think an over the top knee jerk reaction is completely warranted.
We spent $3 trillion and counting on our reaction to 9/11, you think we could come up with a couple billion to give people with major health issues a free ride home or set them up in housing close to public transportation, or expand public transportation!
Revocation of a driver’s license and impounding of a vehicle are not “over the top, knee jerk reactions” for a person who has caused TEN collisions and killed 2 people in hit and run FELONIES! It is not a right to drive, it is a privilege that is earned by demonstrating ability and responsibility. This man has repeatedly demonstrated that he has neither.
10 drowsiness related car crash incidents and two dead human beings?
There’s nothing knee-jerk going on here.
There are medical standards for obtaining and maintaining a drivers license. According to the DOL the state can revoke a driver license if they have sufficient information that the given medical condition doesn’t meet licensing standards and/or is not being controlled.
http://www.dol.wa.gov/driverslicense/suspendmedical.html
Why this person was able to retain a license despite the 10 drowsiness related collisions fatal or otherwise, should alarm the hell out of everyone.
I hate that his wife and children have to learn about and deal with this on the anniversary of losing their person. Derek was and remains one of the best people I’ve known. I’ll never understand how this happened.
If we need to update legislation to be more restrictive on licensing requirements, I would be more than happy to push for change in any way I can.
How do we know he was actually asleep and did not target these people?