4-year-old girl dies in Clackamas County car crash

A 4-year-old girl died Saturday afternoon in a car crash in Clackamas County that also seriously injured three other people.

The crash occurred when the driver of a Ford Focus, 32-year-old Kakkera Geethanjali of Hillsboro, drove through a stop sign on South Meridian Road and into the path of a Jeep Liberty traveling on Oregon 211 east of Woodburn, according to Oregon State Police.

The 4-year-old girl, a passenger in the Ford Focus, was declared dead at the scene.

The driver of the Ford was taken to the hospital in critical condition. Passenger Nareshbabu Kamathman, 36 and also of Hillsboro, and an 8-year-old boy were taken to the hospital with serious injuries, according to the state police.

The driver of the Jeep, 18-year-old Benjamin Hernandez-Lopez of Canby, and passenger Janie Corona-Huarta, 19, of Canby, were taken to the hospital with minor injuries.

Troopers responded to the crash scene at approximately 2:42 p.m. on Saturday. Their preliminary investigation slowed traffic on the highway for five hours.

Other agencies that responded to the crash included the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office, Mollala Police Department, Mollala Fire, Monitor Fire District and the Oregon Department of Transportation.

It was the second car crash in two weeks to kill a 4-year-old in the greater Portland metro area. A crash on March 20 in North Portland killed a 4-year-old boy. In that crash, Portland police arrested the boy’s mother, 27-year-old Angelina L. Minor. She faces charges including manslaughter, reckless driving and driving under the influence of intoxicants, court records show.

—Hillary Borrud is an investigative reporter. Reach her at 503-294-4034, hborrud@oregonian.com or @hborrud.

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