Deming man pleads guilty to killing oncoming driver in 2016 Mount Baker Highway crash
A Deming man pleaded guilty to hitting and killing an oncoming driver after he tried to pass a semi truck on the Mount Baker Highway in early 2016.
Connor Mackenzie Bloom, 25, pleaded guilty Oct. 31 to one count of vehicular homicide in Whatcom County Superior Court. His sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 7, 2020.
On Jan. 28, 2016, Bloom passed several westbound cars on Mount Baker Highway in his black 1998 BMW 318 before he tried to pass a Peterbilt semi truck near Mission Road minutes after 4 p.m.
As Bloom tried to pass the semi, which was hauling a flatbed loaded with lumber, he saw an oncoming Saturn SL1 in the eastbound lane, court records state. The Saturn was being driven by 44-year-old Ronald S. Baker of Maple Falls.
Both drivers slammed on their brakes, according to the semi driver and previous stories in The Bellingham Herald.
Bloom’s BMW hit the side of the semi, ricocheted off and crashed head-on into the Saturn, totaling both cars, according to court records.
Baker was pronounced dead at the scene, records show.
The semi driver was uninjured, according to a previous Herald story.
While at the hospital receiving treatment for injuries he suffered during the crash, Bloom admitted he had consumed both marijuana and methamphetamine earlier that day, court records state.
This story was originally published November 13, 2019 at 12:02 PM.
