Boy injured in DUI crash dies after being taken off life support
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Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly quoted a family member saying Jayce Randall had consumed a bottle of tequila.
TACOMA, Wash. -- A 9-year-old boy injured in a DUI crash died late Sunday after his family removed him from life support.
Nearly every member of Donovan Best's family came to Mary Bridge Children's Hospital on Sunday, hoping the boy could recover from his injuries. But doctors said tests showed no brain activity, and the family made the decision to turn off the breathing machine.
The third-grader was thrown from a car early Saturday on Highway 16 in Purdy, and state troopers say the boy's uncle was drunk and high on drugs when he lost control of the car and crashed.
Jayce L. Randall remains under suicide watch in a hospital room and will be booked into jail for investigation of vehicular homicide when he is released.
"Our family is suffering the consequence of his bad decision that night," said Karrie Lewandowski, Donovan's great aunt.
Randall had spent Saturday evening at a family barbecue and offered to drive Donovan and his younger sister to their grandparents' house. The kids' mother agreed, so they piled into the car.
"Jayce is not a bad kid. He's your average 26 year old," said Donovan's great uncle, Dale Lewandowski. "He went to a barbecue, had a few too many drinks. He has never had a police record. He has never had a DUI."
The force of the crash also ejected Randall, who suffered a broken pelvis. His 8-year-old niece climbed out of the wrecked car and flagged down help.
Relatives say Randall is devastated.
"You have a family here that is suffering two-fold. Our nephew who is on suicide watch, to our little nephew Donovan," Karrie Lewandowski said.
Investigators say Randall's blood-alcohol level was twice the legal limit and that he admitted to also smoking marijuana.
Troopers say Randall's niece told them she and her brother were yelling at their uncle to slow down before the crash.
The family says they don't believe Randall intended to put the children in danger.
"We'd like to send the message also that you cannot get behind the wheel of a car when you're drinking or smoking marijuana. You just can't," Dale Lewandowski said.
TACOMA, Wash. -- A 9-year-old boy injured in a DUI crash died late Sunday after his family removed him from life support.
Nearly every member of Donovan Best's family came to Mary Bridge Children's Hospital on Sunday, hoping the boy could recover from his injuries. But doctors said tests showed no brain activity, and the family made the decision to turn off the breathing machine.
The third-grader was thrown from a car early Saturday on Highway 16 in Purdy, and state troopers say the boy's uncle was drunk and high on drugs when he lost control of the car and crashed.
Jayce L. Randall remains under suicide watch in a hospital room and will be booked into jail for investigation of vehicular homicide when he is released.
"Our family is suffering the consequence of his bad decision that night," said Karrie Lewandowski, Donovan's great aunt.
Randall had spent Saturday evening at a family barbecue and offered to drive Donovan and his younger sister to their grandparents' house. The kids' mother agreed, so they piled into the car.
"Jayce is not a bad kid. He's your average 26 year old," said Donovan's great uncle, Dale Lewandowski. "He went to a barbecue, had a few too many drinks. He has never had a police record. He has never had a DUI."
The force of the crash also ejected Randall, who suffered a broken pelvis. His 8-year-old niece climbed out of the wrecked car and flagged down help.
Relatives say Randall is devastated.
"You have a family here that is suffering two-fold. Our nephew who is on suicide watch, to our little nephew Donovan," Karrie Lewandowski said.
Investigators say Randall's blood-alcohol level was twice the legal limit and that he admitted to also smoking marijuana.
Troopers say Randall's niece told them she and her brother were yelling at their uncle to slow down before the crash.
The family says they don't believe Randall intended to put the children in danger.
"We'd like to send the message also that you cannot get behind the wheel of a car when you're drinking or smoking marijuana. You just can't," Dale Lewandowski said.
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@KMW is a friend/relative. Go figure. If you have to tools to make her profile public, you can see cross communication between Jayce's friends and her.
@ur 1 pea short of a pod You are telling lies. I don't know these people, I have never spoken to them, and therefore, there is NO way you saw any cross communication between us.
@KMWÂ Shame on us? Â Are you not being judgmental yourself KMW? Â Do you have firsthand knowledge of this incident yourself. Â Welcome to KOMO by the way, first time poster, long time reader???? Â The blame and the shame belongs with Jayce, shared, to a point, by any other person at that party who knew the condition he was in and let him take those children. Â If the mom shares in that decision, then she deserves to be judged. Â Not by me or the court of public opinion, but by the law. Â She is already being punished, I'm sure, but it doesn't relieve her from the consequences and responsibility for her part in what happened here. Â
He has been officially charged: Â One count vehicular homicide, one count reckless endangerment. Â I'd guess that is in regards to the little girl who survived. Â The more I think about this mess, the more pissed off I get.
I think the mom should be held responsible as well. Why in the hell would she allow her children to get into a car with someone DRUNK ! She's an idiot.....and should go to jail along with the idiot uncle. I feel sorry for the poor sister who lost her brother. And of course the 9 year old boy who lost his life from the stupidity of his family
So many people are dumb founded at the family of these children. Were they a spin off of the 70"s??? Parents are vacant and uncles and aunt's are just as responsible for their youngsters in the family. NOT ONE PERSON was SOBER enough that night to think about anything but a steak on the grill and where the next drink was coming from!! Shallow is all I can say and now they paid the ultimate price!!
I would consider a wrongful death suit against the idiot that drank 1/5 of Tequila and high on potent pot!! Legalize it as we are as we are going to regret it!
Oh brother, I don't feel at all sorry for the stupid uncle. I cannot believe they say he is suffering, too. Sounds like the family wants people to feel sorry for him when it was his poor choices that got him into this mess! He is personally responsible. I am surprised at the kid's parents, too. Any time you trust someone else with your children you should be very careful make sure the person is sober, etc.Â
Horrible horrible. Wishing he made it through. :(
I was watching the videos of KOMO news 4 interview with the family and I do not see anywhere where the great uncle states that the driver/uncle consumed a bottle of tequilla. And now I see that KOMO has made a correction and admitted they have incorectly quoted the family member. Nice going KOMO.
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@sunshine I'll try this again.  Did KOMO remove this as well???  The guy blew twice over the legal limit.  And I didn't read that on KOMO.  Must be trying to protect the jury pool for this scum dog.  I'm sure he had a tox screen at the hospital.  He never would have been picked up and taken to jail with his injuries if they didn't think they had him cold.
@sunshine Komo added quotes that were never spoken? So much for real journalism. I will read KOMO now like I read The Examiner--may or may not be fact. Thanks for the info
It is unthinkable that a child paid the ultimate price because there was no one sober enough to say NO to a out of control alcohol/drug abuser, these children should have been in bed fast asleep, or somewhere safe, away from this gathering long before the booze and pot started to flow, that in itself is child abuse, I have to wonder how many other times they let these kids go with a drunk/high driver? I'm sure it's not the first time, but  it was the last ride for Donovan, it breaks my heart, I can't think of any words to describe the pain I feel for these little kids.
I was unaware the average 26 year old is a drunk and drug using loser... I certainly was no such thing when I was 26!
Hope they throw the book at this POS...and actually give him more than a slap on the wrist.. I saying 30- life should do it!
This story is so tragic....many different ways this could've and should've been avoided. Wrenches my heart that the kids were begging for him to slow down.......I hope he hears their voices every day for the rest of his wretched life.Â
It's really disturbing how far detached from reality this family seem to be - whether that's just KOMO's manner of reporting, or they really are like that.Â
Great uncle says: "He's your average 26 year old", a statement that an awful lot of 26-year-olds would understandably be pretty offended by.
Great aunt says: "Our family is suffering the consequence of his bad decision that night".Â
One bad decision? From what's presented here and from the fella's FB page, it seems like he and possibly other family members have been marinating in the 'fruit' of chronic bad decisions for a long time.
@kitsapuser Screen shot the page NOW. oh my gosh. SIC em girl.Â
Ill hunt them down myself. Im so upset in tears at the moment.Â
@Magdalena Bujak @kitsapuser Also from snooping, I'm sad to say I've done that because the name Randall has meaning to me, the mom is not so pristine herself.  She supposedly had a meth addiction in the past.  Supposedly "clean" since 2004.  Clean and sober means clean of EVERYTHING,  for an addict.  Obviously, she might not use meth anymore, but anyone who knows about addiction knows you have to leave it all alone.  You cannot chip and dabble and call it good because you are not using your past drug of choice.  Might explain her lack of good judgment and why it was "okay" to let those kids go with her brother. . . Â
@Nanamamabjm @Magdalena Bujak @kitsapuser And you can't keep jumping from one addiction to the next, substituting instead of getting yourself straight.Â
@Northend @Nanamamabjm @Magdalena Bujak @kitsapuser Well, maybe there have been some changes in how they treat addiction.  It doesn't surprise me in this day and age that someone would research finding a way to still use addictive substances anyway.  For me and mine, switching the substance just made a new substance to be addicted to.  Good luck with that thinking.  Maybe marijuana is not physically addicting, but it does cause some real strong psychological attachments, causes social and spiritual difficulties and tears peoples' lives up. Maybe it isn't true physical addiction, but it is still substance abuse when you allow something to control your life.  Coffee does it for me these days.  :)
@Nanamamabjm @Magdalena Bujak @kitsapuser Do not blanket statement. There is plenty of research to support not removing everything from an addicts life. See G Allan Marlatt. Kicking meth and having a few drinks is not an issue. In fact drugs are not a problem it's over using them that is. That goes for MJ too--the non addictive drug.
Who is going to go to bat for this other child here? Who. Maybe if this democratic state did not legalize pot, it would be able to help these children!! Welfare and drugs mix stiff drinks in Washington State. My mom was an alcoholic. I had to live with that in my day. No one spoke up for me when I was slapped around in public. No one helped me when my mother was drunk for days. No one spoke up for me or intervened when my mom got behind a wheel going the wrong way on a 60 mile an hour freeway. I was beaten, abused, neglected, alone, raised myself practically and not one person ever in my entire life helped me even when I reached out. Now we have laws to protect children and Washington State CPS, police, welfare workers and judges don't have the balls to cry out. No, instead they abusers are allowed visits even if children cry not to be with them, begging not to go back. That was the case with the Powel boys. Who had power to help the Powel boys, a judge? Is he still judging? He shouldn't be. If he cant judge a child's cry then for GOD"S sake, he can't judge at all. How about this girl here. Will he be the judge, judging if this girl goes home to her mother? Its a fair question. Who will speak on behalf of this little girl? She does not deserve to be brought into a world where laws are made and established and no one intervenes. In my day, no laws were established. I had one person help me, Jesus and thus he did too. God expects us to help others and help those who cannot defend themselves. It's not right she had to watch her brother die. It's not right her last thoughts were of her bother and her screaming for him to "slow down.." How often I remember screaming at my mom to slow down and she sped up on purpose, just to scare me more. I remember the accident too I had to lie for her in court. they all believed me because i was a whimsical child. It's not fair a child is raised in a drunken and pot smoke filled environment. Who will speak for this girl with me?
@Magdalena Bujak Also, I'd like you to know that I am raising a grandchild because of the addiction of one of my own children.  I had TONS of help from the authorities here in Pierce County to get it done and she no longer has access to this child, period, unless she follows all the court orders to the letter.  She's had five years to start that and hasn't lifted a finger.  She also has two other children that I worked very hard to see that they were placed in a safe environment after she decided her addiction was more important than her children.  I have no control over taking them myself as they live in a different jurisdiction with their father, but I can tell you, I'm on him like stink on you know what to do the right thing.  Now, take a deep breath.  Take care of yourself and do not let this incident set you back in your own recovery of health and well being.  :)
@Magdalena Bujak I hate that you had to go through the things you went through.  My children grew up with an alcoholic for a father.  I stood up for them.  I stood in between him and them if needed and I just plain stood up to him to protect my children.  I may not have done everything right, but never, ever, did I allow my children to be in a vehicle with him when he was under the influence.  People DON'T speak out because it is easier not to, even if it is the right thing to do.  Sucks.  Big time.  I hope and it sounds like you've been able to go on with your life and live it good.  That's the best "revenge" you can have.
@Nanamamabjm @Magdalena Bujak Im good. I forgave my mom, A child does that. that is not the case. This girl has no intervention as they allowed the girl to be returned to the family knowing full well the man was drunk in the car and the mother gave permission. The police don't have balls in Washington State either. Who cares if she told them that her and her brother screamed at him to slow down. Does anyone have an education around here about children?Â
Child abuse is not funny. Neglect is not funny. I hope some good adults intervene for the little girl. What mother allows her children to go in a car with a drunk? She was drunk or high as well and if she was not drunk or high and made this kind of decision she had been hitting that pot too much to make rational cognitive decisions. A drugged mind or a mind that has been given over to drugs for long periods of time, is not able to reason normally. Smoking pot makes a person "not care, have non nonchalant attitudes. Its a drug and a person on this drug is not fit to be a good parent.
WOW! yes completely normal 26yr old kid, and completely normal that the mother says yes take my kids after your hammered and high. A bunch of winners here. So sad for this poor little boy and girl, hopefully there are some adults in her life with some sort of common sense, since the mother and this guy commenting in article have zero. :(
This message is for Dale Lewandowski; your grand nephew is NOTHING like a typical 26 year old. When I was 26 I never "went through a bottle of tequila" nor did I ever consider getting behind the wheel after a "few too many drinks." I also only tried pot once, not a daily user like Jayce Randall (per his facebook page he smoked daily, that "good kush"). Jayce is nothing near a normal 26 year old, he's a 26 year old that has been crying for help for a long time (FB page shows posts of excessive drug and alcohol use for over a year), with those cries going unheard or ignored by family and friends.Â
Dale, if you have other relatives that display this behavior, please intervene and help them as to not allow this to happen to anyone again, especially your family that is already devastated.Â
I'm 28 now, btw.
The kids were the ones begging him to slow down. Pretty sad. I couldn't go on if that is what I remember hearing before destroying 2 little kids lives. Should be mature enough by 26 to make better decisions than this. Was he the only one watching the kids? Someone else had to know this was brewing in the hours before he left.
Jayce was just booked into Pierce County Jail for one count of vehicular homicide.
@Nanamamabjm should be 2nd degree murder but we'll take what we can get
So much to rant about here, but I look at that boy's face and feel nothing but sad.
This is so sad. I am surprised that the mother would allow her children to ride with him if he were that drunk however. As far as that goes I'm surprised that family members even allowed him to get behind the wheel of a car. This, in my opinion was so preventable. I am sorry for the family however and I hope time will help lessen the pain of this tragic event.
@Jatok I told you all before that whole family was drunk. If the family was a caring they one sober person as a designated driver.
the whole family stinks!
@m@Jatok Dude i'm part of the family. i feel nothing but disgust for jayce randall. he has more problems than any of you know about. but, to sit here and bad mouth the whole family, stupid. i understand this is a hard topic, but you have to realize, there were only a couple people from the family at the house at the time. and none of my family(except for jayce's immediate family) is giving him the benefit of the doubt. she is a good mother. one bad mistake doesn't change that. Besides, the world only knows half of what really happened that night. there is one other man, that should be held responsible, but i cant touch on that. BUT, he knows who he is....
It's always the innocent who pay the highest price for someone else's stupidity. Â RIP sweet child and sing with the angels today. Â Tears in heaven.
I say they let him kill himself. He does not deserve to live, he  pretty much murdered his nephew, and attempted to murder his niece. Let the POS DIE! Not waste money on feeding him and clothing him in prison. If someone is  stupid enough to be that drunk and high, i doubt anything will stop him
@Argent Frady Unfortunately with this story, he is not the only one to blame. All of them, except for the littles, are responsible for this! What kind of family doesn't have even one person to stand up for their babies? This should be guilt held by all the family members there or who know there was drinking! I highly doubt this is his first time getting wasted in front of family!
The family is defending this trash. Sounds like they are all trash. they let him drive the kids around after finishing off a bottle of tequila?????
So incredibly sad!! I was praying the little guy would pull through! I am especially heartbroken for his little sister!
What was the family thinking?!?! How can someone drink that much and do drugs WITH people knowing and still be ALLOWED to drive, let alone with little, helpless lives in the vehicle? I just don't understand how something like this could have happened!Â
Such a sad story. My thoughts and prayers are with the family. What Im confused about is he went through a WHOLE BOTTLE of tequila, and the kids were STILL allowed to leave with him? No thought to stop him for HIS safety either??Â
@RaeRae the whole family was drunk. do you think they'll make a decision that is reasonable when you are completely plastered.
SO SO Sad :(
This whole article makes me sick!!!!!
"Jayce is not a bad kid. He's your average 26 year old," said Donovan's great uncle, Dale Lewandowski. "He went through a bottle of tequila, had a few too many drinks. He has never had a police record. He has never had a DUI."
A WHOLE FRICKIN' BOTTLE OF TEQUILA......Most people would be blacked out somewhere or puking their guts out! AA buddy...you obviously have a problem.
"We'd like to send the message also that you cannot get behind the wheel of a car when you're drinking or smoking marijuana. You just can't," Dale Lewandowski said.
REALLLLLYYYYYY????? YOU THINK!!!???? OBVIOUSLY NOBODY WAS THINKING! OH SORRY THEY WERE JUST THINKING OF THEMSELVES AND KEEPING THE BUZZ GOING!
Jeapordize your own life if you want to party it up but involve kids!? Not a good idea and for those other adults around shame on you!!
I have two kids and I'm paranoid after one beer/drink. Such a sad situation all around. RIP little angel and strength to his little sister who will have to deal with this at such a young age. Â Â
@mom2kd - you totally said what I was thinking.  I think there may be too much booze going in that whole family - seems nobody was thinking right that day at least.  The 8 year old has probably already dealt with a lot from this family - she made it out of the crash and had the clear mind to flag somebody down.  It is sad.
@Elaine2Â @mom2kd please clarify where you came up with the conclusion, theres too much booze in the whole family? i just dont understand, the guy gets in one bad wreck, on one bad night. now that has to mean that his whole family has a history of heavy drinking? please state your claim, this i gotta hear.
@MisterA @mom2kd -  MisterA - I seriously doubt they are first time drinkers.  He's 26, not 16 and according to this report he drank a bottle of Tequila and smoked weed.  The mother was probably drunk or under his spell of some sort, otherwise why would she allow the kids to get into his car?  I wouldn't allow children into a car with someone who had drank that much or smoked weed or did dope.  But then, my brain isn't pickled with booze.  Wrong thoughts come from booze and dope - the brain just doesn't process as well.  I think I was being kind to blame it on booze and not call them a couple of frickin' idiots.  I hope they both learn something from this and get off the stuff or at least make it possible so they don't do either and drive at all.  Sometimes it takes a horrible tragedy like this to wake some people up.  Sad but true, been going on for generations.Â
My condolences to the family, it really is a shame that this wake up call resulted in the death of a child. What an absolute waste.
@Susabelle finally, someone with a idea of what to use these for....thank you.
"Jayce is not a bad kid. He's your average 26 year old," said Donovan's great uncle, Dale Lewandowski. "He went through a bottle of tequila, had a few too many drinks."
I am sorry sir but this description does NOT depict your average 26 year old. So, in knowing that this young man just downed a bottle of tequila, a few to many drinks, and smoked some weed, AND let those young children pile into his car........why on earth didn't anyone in his family try to get his car keys?? There is NO excuse. This punk not only needs the book thrown at him........but the entire library.