Whatcom man sent to prison for 2018 crash on Mount Baker Highway that killed one
A 24-year-old Maple Falls man will spend a little more than four years in prison for vehicular homicide for the 2018 death of his 18-year-old passenger.
Christopher Alex Lundquist-Gust was sentenced Dec. 20 in Whatcom County Superior Court to four years and two months in prison, with a year and a half of probation. Lundquist-Gust pleaded guilty Dec. 7 to vehicular homicide for the July 11, 2018 death of Cybil Hatcher.
Shortly before 12:30 a.m. on July 11, 2018, Washington State Patrol troopers responded to a one-vehicle rollover collision on the Mount Baker Highway near Deming.
A state patrol report on the wreck determined that Hatcher, from Blaine, was killed when a white 1999 Volkswagen Beetle driven by Lundquist-Gust was traveling westbound on State Route 542 near Marshall Hill Road and struck the guardrail. The vehicle spun into the eastbound lane, struck another guardrail, rolled and came to rest on its top, according to previous reporting in The Bellingham Herald.
Hatcher was declared dead at the scene as a result of the crash, court records state.
Lundquist-Gust was given an exceptional sentence below the standard range of six and a half to eight and a half years in prison, according to court records.
Both the defense and prosecuting attorneys recommended the 50 month sentence for Lundquist-Gust due to several factors, the court records show.
While at the scene of the crash and later during jail phone calls, Lundquist-Gust — who was 20 years old at the time — said another vehicle had crossed the centerline, which caused him to swerve and strike the guardrail before spinning out of control. An expert for the defense who recreated the crash said Lundquist-Gust’s account was consistent with the recreation of the wreck, court records state.
Lundquist-Gust’s defense attorney also had him evaluated by a behavioral health specialist who detailed in a report the abuse, trauma and neglect Lundquist-Gust had suffered since childhood. The report indicated Lundquist-Gust has struggled with his mental health since he was young. The report said there was no documented evidence of substance use disorder, court records state.
The specialist’s report noted that Lundquist-Gust seemed remorseful for his actions that resulted in Hatcher’s death.
Due to his age at the time of the wreck, the additional details brought forward and Lundquist-Gust’s traumatic past, the agreed upon sentencing recommendation was endorsed by the victim’s family, according to court records.
Lundquist-Gust, who was uninjured and wearing a seatbelt, was taken to St. Joseph’s hospital for evaluation. Lundquist-Gust, whose license was suspended at the time, admitted to consuming alcohol and marijuana before the wreck, court records show.
