Man out on parole charged with murder after deadly crash kills WA college student

According to charging documents obtained by KOMO News, 47-year-old Donald Wayne Rownan of Forks admitted to fleeing from a pursuing deputy because he “didn’t want to go back to prison.” Investigators say his indifference was chilling. “Rownan’s demeanor appeared as if he did not care and did not believe it was his fault,” a Washington State Patrol trooper wrote in an arrest report. “He stated something along the lines of, ‘you guys could have not chased me.’ I told him I was shocked by the lack of accountability.”

DOC records show Rownan had three active warrants for failing to report to Community Custody, Washington’s version of parole, since being released from prison in May. His latest warrant was issued on Sept. 2. His most recent conviction was in 2023 for possession of a stolen vehicle and identity theft in King County. He admitted to Washington State Patrol that he ran from the crash and said he had repeatedly violated the terms of his Community Custody supervision and feared being sent back to prison.

The Pierce County Sheriff’s Office said a deputy tried to stop Rownan’s Chrysler 300 near 112th Street and Steel Street in Parkland around 9:30 am Wednesday. Within seconds, Rownan sped east toward Ainsworth Avenue South, blew through a red light, and t-boned a silver Toyota Corolla in the intersection.

The driver of the Corolla, 20-year-old Paola Parbol Arredondo, was killed instantly. Rownan fled the scene on foot but was captured shortly afterward by deputies. Two passengers in his vehicle were hospitalized with injuries. Investigators found drug paraphernalia inside the car, and troopers said Rownan appeared to be under the influence of methamphetamine at the time of the crash.

Prosecutors filed eight felony charges Thursday morning, including: Second-degree murder, vehicular homicide, failure to remain at an accident resulting in death, vehicular assault (DUI), attempting to elude police, escape from community custody, and reckless driving. Rownan pleaded not guilty in Pierce County Superior Court. His bail was set at $750,000.

Arredondo was on her way to classes at Pacific Lutheran University (PLU) when she was struck. Her boyfriend, Gabriel Pangelinan, told the outlet that she had kissed him goodbye just minutes earlier. “She woke me up with a kiss goodbye,” he said. “I told her, ‘Be safe, I’ll see you after you get home.’”

PLU released a statement expressing heartbreak over her death: “It is with deep sadness that Pacific Lutheran University shares the news of the passing of one of our students, Paola Parbol Arredondo… Paola was a valued member of our community, and she will be greatly missed.”

After the 2020 unrest in Seattle, Democrats in the state legislature enacted strict pursuit restrictions, despite warnings from law enforcement that the measures would embolden criminals. In the following years, suspects fleeing police spiked by the thousands, and auto thefts soared, driving up insurance rates statewide. Critics have long blamed the pursuit limits for preventable deaths, including that of 12-year-old Immaculee Goldade, who was killed by a fleeing suspect driving a stolen truck in 2022.

In 2024, citizen group Let’s Go Washington gathered enough signatures to send Initiative 2113, which rolled back the Democratic pursuit restrictions, to the Washington Legislature, which approved it.