Former Seattle Mariners third baseman Dave Edler told police the pickup was coming straight at him in his lane. His wife, Susie, was beside him when the truck hit their SUV head-on in Yakima, Washington, on November 8. Firefighters freed them both, but Susie, a 67-year-old pastor and grandmother, died that afternoon. Dave, 70, was flown to Seattle with two broken arms and facial injuries. By Thursday, his condition had improved from critical to serious.
In court the next day, Deputy Prosecutor Jaye Sleeman described how the pickup driver, 26-year-old Trevor Allen Stockton, allegedly reacted to the news. When an officer told him the people in the SUV were badly hurt, Sleeman said, Stockton chuckled. When he learned the passenger had died, she said, he gave a one-word answer. “Okay.” Stockton’s public defender disputed the prosecutor’s account of his demeanor.
Just six minutes separated Stockton’s departure from a Yakima bar and the call reporting the crash on Coolidge Road. Security footage showed him leaving alone at 4:24 p.m. after spending much of the afternoon there with his girlfriend. Their tab listed nine drinks. The receipt didn’t say how many either of them had. At the crash scene, an officer said Stockton slurred his words and smelled of alcohol from five feet away. Police obtained a warrant to draw his blood after he declined field sobriety tests.
Police arrested Stockton on suspicion of vehicular homicide and vehicular assault involving alcohol. Sleeman asked the judge to set bail at $500,000. Judge Shane Silverthorn set it at $75,000, which Stockton posted Monday evening. His next court appearance was scheduled for November 18.
Baseball fans knew Dave from his four seasons with the Mariners, and Yakima voters knew him as their mayor from 2006 to 2010. At Yakima Foursquare Church, people had known the Edlers as a pair for more than 30 years. Susie and Dave served side by side as pastors there. On Monday evening, their church opened its doors to anyone who wanted to mourn Susie and pray for Dave.
“They are a mother and father. They are a grandmother and grandfather,” reads a fundraiser organized for the family. Donations will help pay for Susie’s funeral, Dave’s medical bills and a place for relatives to stay near his hospital in Seattle.