Kennewick Road Flagger Killed By Drunk Driver Near Athena, OR

Oregon Department of Transportation officials and the Oregon State Patrol continue to investigate an accident that killed a Kennewick woman, who was working as a flagger on a construction project near Athena OR. This picture was snapped at the scene of the accident.

Tuesday night, around 8:40pm, 49-year-old Tyresa Monaghan was flagging a construction slow-down zone on State Route 11, where the road was being repaved near the town.

Monaghan had stopped a vehicle as part of the repaving procedure, and had her sign on a pole displayed in front of her, as you often see in construction zones. She was standing a short distance in front of that car.

OSP troopers then said a minivan driven by 76-year-old Leman Bledsoe of Milton-Freewater sped through the construction zone, sideswiped that stopped vehicle, then struck Monaghan herself. She sustained fatal injuries, and troopers said she was dead at the scene. Blesoe continue to drive for nearly a mile through the construction zone, endangering other workers before finally being stopped.

Bledsoe is in the Umatilla County jail facing DUI charges, Reckless Endangerment, Reckless Driving, and numerous other charges are pending as well. It's likely vehicular homicide could be added.