It’s been six years since a man was killed and five others were injured in a two-car collision on North Whidbey, but the 63-year-old driver accused of causing the tragedy still hasn’t gone to trial, according to court documents.

Steven M. Parson died in the June 29, 2019 accident after being thrown from a vehicle. He was 50 years old.

Cindy Wilson, the driver of one of the cars, was recently arrested on a $25,000 bench warrant for not appearing at a pre-trial hearing in Island County Superior Court. She was charged in November 2020 with vehicular homicide and two counts of vehicular assault.

Court documents indicate that Wilson may have been impaired by methamphetamine at the time of the crash, although her former defense attorney questioned the validity of blood toxicology results because of contamination at the state crime lab. At the scene of the crash, Wilson allegedly performed poorly on a roadside sobriety test and admitted to a trooper that she had used meth the day before the accident, according to a report from the Washington State Patrol.

At the June 13 hearing, Island County Superior Court Judge Christon Skinner noted that numerous continuances in the case led to the long delay in going to trial. The trial dates were rescheduled 23 times, most of which were at the request of the defense.

Skinner pointed out that Wilson has had three different attorneys and that hundreds of pages of pre-trial motions were filed in the case. She obtained a court-ordered evaluation which found she was competent to stand trial.

“A six-year delay is unacceptable in the court’s view,” the judge said, agreeing with the prosecutor’s recommendation to set her bail at $25,000.

In the collision report, the trooper states that Wilson was driving a 2009 Jeep Wrangler SUV west on Frostad Road and failed to yield at the stop sign at the intersection with the highway.

Wilson’s Jeep collided with a 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee SUV driven by Oak Harbor resident Reed Hall.

Parson was a back-seat passenger in Wilson’s Jeep Wrangler and was ejected from the vehicle. He was pronounced dead at the scene, according to a State Patrol spokesperson. Another passenger in Wilson’s Wrangler suffered a broken hip.

Wilson was injured and transported to Island Hospital in Anacortes. She was later booked into the Island County jail on suspicion of vehicular homicide and two counts of vehicular assault. She wasn’t charged until after toxicology tests and a State Patrol report were complete.

Hall and his two passengers were also injured and transported to hospitals, according to the trooper’s report.

Wilson was released from jail after posting bail. A new trial date has not been set as of Tuesday morning, although she was due in court in the afternoon.