PORT ANGELES — An 18-year-old Port Angeles High School senior faces a first-degree murder charge in the early Sunday hit-and-run death of Steven Bliss.
Shawn Louis Newman, 2836 E. Myrtle Lane, was jailed Monday with bail set at $15,000 by Judge Ken Williams.
Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Lauren Erickson had requested bail of $100,000.
The first-degree charge was based on “an extreme indifference to human life,” according to court documents.
Newman also faces alternative charges of vehicular homicide for being under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs, or vehicular homicide for driving in a reckless manner.
If convicted of any of the charges, Newman could be sentenced to life imprisonment and fined $50,000.
Newman’s arraignment was set for 9 a.m. Friday.
He will be represented by an attorney from the Clallam-Jefferson Public Defender’s office.
Going more than 100 mph
According to a probable-cause affidavit:
A Clallam County Sheriff’s deputy clocked a car eastbound on U.S. Highway 101 at more than 100 mph at about 1:20 a.m. Sunday.
Three minutes later, a witness reported to the 9-1-1 dispatcher that a red Ford Mustang had struck a pedestrian near the entrance to the Welcome Inn RV and Mobile Home Park, 1215 W. Highway 101.
The deputy found Bliss, 48, a Welcome Inn resident, dead in the center of the highway.