EDITOR’S NOTE: This post has been updated with new information about the victim of this tragic, fatal collision.
The King County Medical Examiner’s Office on Monday, Feb. 24, 2025 released the identity of the woman killed in a suspected DUI crash on SR 509 late Saturday night as Cordelia Ann Chen-Gilchrist, 53 – aka Della Chen, a noted Seattle filmmaker and photographer.
According to The Seattle Times, Chen was returning home after a Brooklyn screening of her documentary film “She Marches in Chinatown,” when she was tragically killed on northbound SR 509 when a suspected DUI driver rear-ended her vehicle at high speed at around 11:25 p.m., causing it to veer off the road and hit a tree.
Cause of her death was listed as “multiple blunt force injuries,” and coroners said she succumbed to her injuries on Saturday, Feb. 23 at Harborview Medical Center.
Meanwhile, the suspected DUI driver, a 26-year-old Seattle man, was hospitalized with injuries and now faces multiple charges, including vehicular homicide, DUI, and eluding police. Two 16-year-old passengers in his vehicle were not injured.
Everyone at The B-Town Blog/South King Media sends out their deepest condolences to all who knew and loved Della.
Always in our hearts Della.