Three active-duty soldiers are being credited with stopping an alleged drunken attack on a Washington highway after a mother crashed her SUV and then turned a knife on her two daughters.
Janieka Ellington, 35, of Washington state, packed her girls, ages 10 and 15, into her vehicle early Monday following a night of drinking whiskey with no sleep, according to police affidavits. The trio drove for roughly three hours before Ellington’s SUV slammed into a barrier near DuPont.
What happened next drew the intervention of strangers who happened to be in the right place at the right time. Ellington allegedly began attacking her daughters with a knife after the crash, chasing the teenager as the situation spiraled, police said.
Sgt. First Class Jeff Hytower, an active-duty Army soldier, was driving nearby when he spotted the chaos unfolding. “I just jumped up, it was just instinct … That’s when training kicks in. That’s when everything we do as soldiers kicks in,” he told KING 5.
Hytower moved to disarm Ellington once he spotted the weapon. “Once I saw the knife and identified it was a knife indeed, I was just trying to isolate that knife from anyone trying to cause harm … and then get that individual to the ground,” he said.
Two fellow service members joined the effort. Sgt. Ricardo Nunez of the Army and combat medic Sgt. Alexis McKay of the Washington National Guard helped pin Ellington to the pavement until law enforcement arrived, according to court records.
The younger daughter sustained cuts consistent with knife wounds, while the 15-year-old suffered injuries to her hand, ankle and head, the police affidavit states. Both were transported to a hospital for treatment.
Ellington herself offered an explanation to authorities after her arrest. She told them she had been drinking whiskey the night before and didn’t get any sleep, according to court records viewed by Fox 13.
One of the daughters provided additional context to detectives, saying Ellington had woken the girls, loaded them into the car, and then spent portions of the drive rambling about people following them before ramming the vehicle into the highway barrier.
The charges against Ellington are extensive. She faces four counts of first-degree attempted murder, two counts of vehicular assault while intoxicated, and one count of felony harassment, according to the police affidavit obtained by the Seattle Times. The attempted murder counts cover both daughters and potentially the soldiers who intervened.
The incident began as a misguided early morning road trip and transformed into a scene of violence on a stretch of Washington highway, with a mother’s alleged intoxication and paranoia putting two children in mortal danger before the quick actions of three military personnel brought it to a halt.
Ellington remains facing multiple felony charges as the case proceeds through the court system.