‘Their light remains.’ Mother and daughter killed in Highway 395 crash remembered
Angel and Aspen Hart had finished a joyful day at a pumpkin patch on Sunday afternoon when they pulled out onto Highway 395 north of Pasco.
The 50-year-old mother of two was behind the wheel of her sports car when she drove into the northbound lanes of the highway and into the path of a Dodge Ram truck.
She and her 18-year-old daughter, Aspen, died at the scene of the collision. Now, the Washington Fraternal Order of Police is helping Angel’s other daughter, Benton County Sheriff’s Detective Payten Hart, by raising money for their funerals at bit.ly/HartHelpaHero.
“There are some who bring a light so great to the world that even after they have gone — their light remains,” Payten Hart wrote in a post on the Help a Hero fundraising effort. “Aspen and Angel were this light and remain the light for so many in our community.”
Angel owned a photography business and was a billing manager for Swift Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation in Tri-Cities.
“Angel embodied strength and resilience in every trial life threw at her including beating cancer,” Payten wrote. “She was tenacious bold and ambitious. Angel’s fun and altruistic outlook on life attracted all those who surrounded her.”
As a photographer, Angel captured memories and had an eye for seeing “the beauty and good in everything and everyone,” her daughter wrote.
She described her sister as a wild spirit with a “soft heart and sweet soul” who touched the lives of every person she encountered. Aspen graduated from Kennewick High School in 2023 and received an associate’s degree from Columbia Basin College.
She was attending Heritage University for elementary education and hoped to become a teacher.
“Aspen was a friend to all, and someone who loved fiercely,” Payten wrote. “Every free moment Aspen had was spent with family and friends and those she loved.”
She grew up dancing and cheering competitively in the Tri-Cities and continued to share her passion through coaching at Dance Images West.
The Washington State Patrol is continuing to investigate the crash at the intersection at the Country Mercantile store about five miles north of Pasco.
Two Franklin County roads meet at the intersection with the four-lane divided highway — Crestloch Road to the east and Selph Landing Road to the west.
