2 Federal Way students fatally injured in car crash on Interstate 5

Students, teachers and parents at Federal Way's Decatur High School Thursday mourned the deaths of two young men fatally injured in a crash on Interstate 5 near Southcenter late Wednesday — a crash troopers are blaming on a Kirkland man with a history of DUI arrests.

State troopers say Nicholas A. Hodgins, 18, and Derek King, who would have turned 19 on Thursday, were passengers in a car that was rear-ended by an sport-utility vehicle driven by Alexander Peder, 50, of Kirkland. The young men who died were to graduate from Decatur High on Saturday.

King was pronounced dead at the scene. Hodgins died early Thursday afternoon at Harborview Medical Center. They were passengers in a Honda Civic driven by classmate Anthony Beaver, who was also injured and treated at Harborview.

Troopers said Beaver's car became disabled in a southbound lane of I-5 at about 10:30 p.m. Wednesday just south of Southcenter, and that Beaver had turned on the car's emergency hazard lights but was unable to move the car to the shoulder before it was struck from behind by an SUV driven by Peder.

Peder, after being treated at Harborview, was booked into the King County Jail on charges of vehicular homicide and vehicular assault. Troopers said they believe alcohol was a factor in the crash.

Court records indicate Peder has twice previously been charged with DUI, and both cases were subsequently reduced to lesser offenses. A 1998 charge was reduced to negligent driving, and in a 2007 case, Peder pleaded guilty to reckless endangerment.

KING-TV reported that in the latter case, settled in 2008, Peder was sentenced to 10 hours of community service and a promise not to commit any alcohol-related offenses for two years. He is due to appear in court Friday.

Thursday night, a crowd of several hundred students, friends, family members of the victims and members of the community gathered in a light rain on the Decatur High School lawn for a candlelight vigil in memory of Hodgins and King. Set up under two small tents was a makeshift memorial of flowers, posters, and banners.

Nelson Atkinson, 18, said the accident took two good friends.

"It's just really hard right now. Everyone liked them," he said. Graduation "is going to be hard," he said, "but we will still have them in our hearts."

Atkinson said plans are being made to remember King and Hodgins at graduation, possibly with initials on ribbons for students to wear.

He said the accident happened as his three friends were returning from an outing to use the trampolines at Sky High Sports in Bellevue. Atkinson originally had planned to go with them, but on Wednesday decided to spend the evening with his girlfriend instead.

One by one, classmates of the victims stood to talk about their upbeat manner, sense of humor and loyalty to one another.

Among them was Beaver, the driver of the car King and Hodgins were in. A bandaged cut was visible on his left cheek as he stood and told the gathering crowd of the closeness he'd felt with his lost classmates. As he spoke, students lit candles inside paper bags on which they had written messages to their lost friends.

"I want to tell everyone to live every day like it's your last day," Beaver said. " ... and cherish your friends."

Another friend of the victims, who had rushed to Harborview after she heard of the accident, told the crowd: "We all loved Nick and D-Rock (Derek), and they loved all of us, and that's the only thing that matters."

Seattle Times news researcher Miyoko Wolf contributed

to this report.

Jack Broom: 206-464-2222 or jbroom@seattletimes.com