A young man has been charged following a fatal crash that claimed three lives, including a newborn baby in outback Western Australia two months ago.
Emergency services were called to Geraldton-Mount Magnet Road near Yalgoo about 10.50pm on August 10 after a Toyota HiLux ute overturned.
Gabrielle Brockman, 21, and her cousin Levi Ashwin, five weeks old, died at the scene.
Levi’s mother, Marrika Brockman, 33, later died at the hospital.
She was one of four airlifted to Royal Perth Hospital by the Royal Flying Doctor Service with serious and critical injuries.
The others were two 22-year-old men and a third man, 43.
A 22-year-old Newman man has since been charged with three counts of dangerous driving causing death under aggravated circumstances and two counts of dangerous driving causing serious bodily harm under aggravated circumstances.
He was due to appear at South Hedland Magistrates Court later on Thursday night.
Five-week-old Levi Ashwin and his aunt Gabrielle Brockman, 21, died after a serious car crash on Geraldton-Mount Magnet Road, near Yalgoo, on August 10.
Levi’s mother, Marrika Brockman, 33, later died at Royal Perth Hospital from injuries she suffered in the crash.
Brockman’s family had just attended a funeral in Meekatharra and were making the 535 kilometer journey back to Geraldton, in the state’s southwest, when tragedy struck.
The mother worked as a hotel cleaner and has been remembered as a “proud” mother of Levi.
Mount Magnet Shire president Jim McGorman said what had happened to the family was “tragic” and “incomprehensible”.
“They went to school here; my wife taught two of the girls involved in the incident, so it’s pretty close to a lot of us,” he said. told 7News.
After the woman’s death, her mothers encouraged drivers to stop and take a break on long road trips.
‘(Marrika) was very proud of that baby; “He did everything he could,” Cynthia said.
Gabrielle’s mother, Phyllis, described her as a happy child who was always smiling, playing and laughing.
A man has been charged over the crash that claimed the lives of two young women and a five-week-old baby.
WA Premier Roger Cook called it at the time a “horrible, horrific incident” that “must have been a heartbreaking scene” for the first responders who attended.
“Due to the current situation, the first responders were mostly volunteers,” Cook told ABC.
‘And for that, our hearts go out to the families of the victims and the first responders, we thank them for their incredible work.
“It must have been a heartbreaking scene and we wish the best to everyone who was affected by this incident.”