A former Santa Clarita Valley resident died Friday night in Coos County, Oregon, in what Oregon State Police are investigating as a suspected impaired-driving incident.
Kiley Jones, 19, of Nampa, Idaho, was on a bus with her Umpqua Community College softball team in Coos County when a Chevrolet Silverado crossed the centerline into the eastbound lane and struck the Chevrolet Express carrying the coach, Jami Lea Strinz, and 10 members of the team, according to an Oregon State Police news release.
The incident occurred at approximately 9:56 p.m. on Friday, the release states. The team had just won a game at Southwestern Oregon Community College in Coos Bay, Oregon, and was on its way to the Roseburg campus when the incident occurred.
Jones was pronounced dead at the scene, while Strinz, 46, of Roseburg, Oregon, was driving the Express and died at a local hospital after being transported with critical injuries, according to the release.
“The highway was impacted for approximately five hours during the on-scene investigation,” the release states. “Impaired driving is considered a primary cause of the crash.”
Jones, who was in her first year at Umpqua, is survived by her mother, Nikki Mahoney, and her husband, Scott Mahoney; her father, Brian Jones, who still lives in the SCV; and her grandmother, Valerie Jones, a Valencia resident for 40 years, according to Jones’ uncle, Gregory Jones.
Jones grew up in the SCV and attended Charles Helmers Elementary and Placerita Junior High School before moving to Idaho with her mother and stepfather, the uncle said.
“We were all devastated,” the uncle said Monday in a phone interview, adding that Jones would visit for holidays and was “always great to me and my kids,” Canyon High School seniors Hayden and Hanne Jones.
A graduate of Columbia High School in Nampa, where she was named prom queen, Jones was “really popular and so well-loved,” Gregory Jones said.
Jones was a multi-sport athlete growing up, her uncle said, and attended Umpqua for soccer before trying out for the softball team in what is the first year for the program. Jones had never played softball before her senior year of high school, her mother told KTVB, a TV news station in Boise, Idaho.
Jones’ goals were to join the Army before eventually becoming a canine police officer, according to the uncle.
“She was one of the most ambitious people I know,” the uncle said.
Umpqua President Rachel Pokrandt released a statement acknowledging the death of the softball coach and Jones.
“We are deeply saddened to confirm that one of our student-athletes, Kiley Jones, and one of our coaches, Jami Strinz, lost their lives in the accident,” Pokrandt said in the statement. “These individuals were cherished members of our campus — an exceptional student-athlete, and a passionate and talented coach. Our entire community is grieving this tragic loss, and our heartfelt condolences are with their families, teammates, and loved ones.”
The other eight occupants of the softball team’s vehicle suffered moderate to severe injuries, according to the OSP release.
The driver, a 32-year-old Coos Bay man, suffered serious injuries in the crash and was transported to an emergency medical center, the release states.
Additional details of the incident are not being released due to the ongoing criminal investigation.
