Renton crash victim’s death haunts father

It’s a question that haunts Paul Dunn.

Why wasn’t his son Justin wearing his seatbelt the cold December night when he died in a horrible crash in Renton?

Something he routinely did every day may have saved his life.

“We are never going to get the answer to that,” said Dunn. Justin was hanging on to the front seat.

The other two people in the car that night, including the driver of the 2002 Acura who has been charged with vehicular homicide in Justin’s death, were wearing seatbelts and their airbags deployed. They survived.

For sure, Dunn says Justin’s family chooses to remember what this young man with the big smile and bald head did with his 26 years, rather than the “what might have beens.”

Justin lived with friends in Renton when he wasn’t working aboard a cruise ship for Cruise West as a guest services representative. He had helped them rebuild their house after it was destroyed by a fire caused by fireworks several years ago.

Justin’s memorial overflowed the Kent Senior Center. His death – and his life – touched hundreds of people, Dunn said.

“He was the guy who would light up the room,” Dunn said of his son. He’s the young man who never had an ill word to say about anyone. He was the shoulder to cry on.

And, he was the young man who wouldn’t drive after drinking. So why, Dunn asks, did Justin get into the car? It’s another question that will go unanswered.

It’s the story of Justin’s life that his father wants to tell. It’s how he wants his son remembered – not the gruesome details found in court documents.

“Justin’s death has affected literally hundreds of people. If any good can come of this, maybe it can come from telling that side of the story,” Dunn said.

Still, there was that fateful night in December, a night that devastated the Dunn family.

Justin’s last hours were spent with friends at an engagement party at Gonzo’s Bar on Southeast 272nd Street in Kent. The three left in the black Acura, after having several drinks each. The car’s owner, Maria Trejo, 24, turned over the keys to Taylor H. Chiasson, 24, who knew Justin through working at IKEA.

Trejo told authorities she knew she wasn’t in any condition to drive. Neither was Chiasson, but she thought he was “lucid and in control enough” to make the trip to his apartment, she told authorities.

Chiasson and Trejo got in the front seat; Justin rode in the back.

The route to the apartment took the three along Talbot Road South. The accident reconstruction showed that the Acura was traveling as fast as 74 mph.

At roughly 2 a.m. on Dec. 21 Chiasson lost control of the Acura. It came to rest against the Springbrook Apartments, where he lived. Justin died at the scene; Chiasson and Trejo were treated at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

Justin’s parents learned of his death the next morning. Investigators found Justin’s cell phone. His mother’s work phone was programmed in the directory.

Laurie Dunn was notified of her son’s death at Renton Western Wear, where she works, by the Renton police chaplain. Paul Dunn was notified by the Kent Police chaplain at his job with the City of Kent.

It was about 11 a.m.

“It was a tough day,” said Dunn, who is the technical services manager for the City of Kent’s Information Technology Department.

Chiasson was charged in early May with vehicular homicide. He is in the jail at the Norm Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent on $100,000 bail. Another court appearance is scheduled for next week.

Someone from the Dunn family will attend all the hearings, Paul Dunn said, including Justin’s grandfather, also Paul Dunn.

“I want to see this guy get whatever he’s going to get and then go away. I hope to never see him again,” said Dunn.

Besides his parents, Justin has two brothers, Tyler, 15, and Shaun, 29.

The police investigation and then the review by prosecutors took months, which is typical in vehicular homicide cases.

While Dunn said the family has been kept well-informed by prosecutors during that time, he is feeling “some frustration” with the judicial system.

If Chiasson is convicted, he faces 31 to 41 months in prison. Yet, Dunn points out, the man who attacked a cab driver in a high-profile case received a 48-month prison term, because it was a hate crime.

“It doesn’t seem like there’s any proportionality of sentencing,” he said.

According to prosecutors, Chiasson’s blood-alcohol level was twice the legal limit and he tested positive for marijuana.

“As a family, we have prayed that this event would be a signal to others that drinking, drugs and driving don’t mix,” Dunn said.

For sure, Justin knew the importance of wearing a seatbelt. Dunn called his son the “seatbelt poster boy.”

Justin was just 6 years old when the family Blazer was T-boned by a car going 70 mph down the hill on Southeast 212th Street in Kent.

Justin, his mother Laurie and brother Shaun walked away; they were wearing seatbelts.

It was a vision that Justin carried with him all his life, said his dad, and especially so when he became a driver.

“He wouldn’t start up his car until everyone was buckled up,” said Dunn.

The Dunns have lived in Kent since 1988. Justin graduated from Kentridge High School in 2000. “He was your basic normal Kent kid,” Dunn said.

Justin didn’t go to college, although he was considering going back to school to pursue art studies, according to Dunn.

“He was at the point in his life of deciding what to do,” Dunn said.

Justin was on leave from Cruise West at the time of his death, according to Dunn.

It had been six months and two days on the day of this interview since Justin had died. Dunn knew that without hesitation.

“There are good days and there are wretched days,” said Dunn. He has been told that life will get better, “but you never get over it,” he said.

Someday they’ll see Justin again, he said.

Dunn said he and Laurie have a strong relationship that has helped them through the last few months.

And they have their son on video as well, to see his face and hear his voice. And that bald head.

Justin shaved his head, Dunn said. He wasn’t naturally bald. “He just liked it that way. We used to call him Mr. Clean,” Dunn said.

The Dunns shot a video of Justin last September while on one of his cruises. Part of it was shown at Justin’s memorial service.

Laurie films Justin as he’s walking down the hallway, toward his parents’ stateroom. He knocks on the door. His dad is inside.

Justin is giving his father a hard time about changing the sheets. So, are you going to change the sheets, Paul Dunn asked him.

His answer, according to Paul Dunn. “Absolutely not.”

Justin turns toward the camera with a broad smile and a thumbs up. That was his personality.

“Every once in a while it’s nice to see him coming down the hall,” Dunn said.

Dean A. Radford can be reached at 425-255-3484, ext. 5050, or at dean.radford@rentonreporter.com.