Boy dies one year after crash

The Daily Inter Lake

A Columbia Falls boy died Thursday, almost one year after suffering severe injuries in a crash that also killed a 13-year-old Kalispell girl.

In a coma since shortly after the accident, Skot Watson, 17, died at his Columbia Falls home.

Also killed was Shava Harper, who died at Kalispell Regional Medical Center one day after the March 14, 2007, crash.

Watson and Harper both were severely injured in a two-vehicle crash at the intersection of U.S. 2 and Derns Road, about two miles west of Kalispell, just before 8:40 p.m.

According to the Montana Highway Patrol, Watson and Harper were passengers in a minivan, driven by a 16-year-old Kalispell girl, traveling northbound on Derns Road. As the minivan crossed U.S. 2, it was struck broadside by a westbound Chevrolet Blazer.

The intersection, just west of Hartt Hill, was controlled with an overhead light that flashes yellow to traffic on U.S. 2 and red to traffic on Derns Road and West Springcreek Drive.

After the impact, the minivan rolled onto its driver's side. All three occupants had to be extricated from the vehicle. They all appeared to be wearing their seat belts.

The driver and sole occupant of the Blazer, Jessica Ginnaty, 26, of Libby, was uninjured

Investigators could not ascertain whether the minivan came to a complete stop before crossing, only that it entered the highway at an unsafe moment.

Neither speed nor alcohol were factors in the crash. Both vehicles were damaged extensively.