2-year-old killed and aunt injured when toddler wanders into traffic

A 2-year-old girl was killed and her aunt critically injured Saturday night in Kent, after the child walked into a roadway outside a relative’s home.

The chain of events started when the toddler slipped out the back door of a home in the 21200 block of 108th Avenue SE and wandered into the road out front, Kent police Sgt. Pat Lowery said.

The toddler’s aunt, a 43-year-old Seattle woman, was driving down the road and saw the child step from the curb into traffic. The aunt stopped, jumped from her car and ran for the toddler.

The aunt and the 2-year-old were struck at the same time – the child by a Honda Civic, the aunt by a Dodge Intrepid in an adjacent lane. Both cars were traveling south.

“It’s an incredible coincidence and incredibly tragic,” Lowery said of the aunt’s attempted rescue of her niece.

The aunt and child were both taken to Harborview Medical Center, where the toddler was pronounced dead and the aunt was being treated for life-threatening injuries, Lowery said.

Police do not believe that speeding or recklessness on the part of either driver contributed to the accident, Lowery said.