3 die in head-on crash in Morrow County

Published 4:22 pm Saturday, December 31, 2022

A head-on crash Friday claimed the lives of three Heppner residents.

It was the third deadly crash in Morrow and Umatilla counties within five days.

Oregon State Police reported troopers at 5:16 p.m. responded to a report of a two-vehicle crash on state Highway 74 about 2 miles east of Lexington in Morrow County.

The preliminary investigation indicated Kellie Renae Nelson, 27, of Heppner, was driving a gray 2017 Ford Explorer east when it left its lane of travel and collided head-on with a red 1993 Jeep Cherokee traveling west and pulling a small utility trailer.

Ronald Lee Stutzman, 71, of Heppner, was driving the Jeep. He and Nelson died at the scene.

Stutzman’s passenger, Tamara Jane Stutzman, 71, also of Heppner, was transported to Pioneer Memorial Hospital in Heppner where she later died.

Nelson was a mother, a volunteer Heppner firefighter and worked for Morrow County Grain Growers. Comments on social media stated she and the Stutzmans were well known and well liked community members.

On Thursday, state police  responded about 11:40 p.m. to a two-vehicle crash on Interstate 84 a couple of miles west of Stanfield in Umatilla County.

The preliminary investigation indicated John Patrick Carver, 58, of Quincy, Washington, was driving a black 2002 Honda CRV that was called in as a hazard. The CRV was reportedly stopped in the westbound slow lane of the interstate with no lights on, according to state police. 

As troopers were responding, a white 2023 International semitruck collided with the Honda.

The Honda CRV came to rest on the shoulder of the interstate with severe damage, and Carver died at the scene.

The driver of the International, Mark Allen Farish, 45, of Meridian, Idaho, suffered minor injuries.

And on the morning of Dec. 25, two Boardman men were ejected from a a silver Mercedes E320 on I-84 near Hermiston after it left the roadway, entered the median and rolled several times.

The driver, Ricardo Mejia Avila, 27, of Boardman, died at the scene.

Passenger Asarias Alonso Ramos, 38, also of Boardman, was taken to Good Shepherd Medical Center, Hermiston, where his condition was critical.