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Washougal High School honors 2024 graduate killed in I-5 crash

Mia Tanner Lockard, 18, died Jan. 24 following a wrong-way collision near Lakewood, Wash.

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Washougal High School cheerleaders wear "For Mia" shirts during a Washougal High boys basketball game held Wednesday, Jan. 29, to honor Mia Tanner Lockard, 18, a 2024 Washougal High graduate who died early Friday morning, Jan. 24, in a wrong-way driver crash on Interstate 5 in the Seattle area. (Doug Flanagan/Post-Record)

The Washougal High School community turned out to the Panthers boys basketball game against Woodland High on Thursday, Jan. 29, dressed in pink and armed with messages of love to help honor a 2024 Washougal High graduate killed last week in a wrong-way driver collision on Interstate 5.

Mia Tanner Lockard, 18, a 2024 Washougal High School graduate, died Jan. 23 after a wrong-way driver struck her vehicle with his pickup truck on I-5 near Lakewood, Washington.

“Mia was a fantastic daughter, sister, and friend,” Scott Lockard, Tanner Lockard’s father, told the Post-Record. “She loved her family, friends, and this community deeply. Her family is devastated by her passing.”

Students, staff and families honored Tanner Lockard by wearing pink and posting notes to Tanner Lockard and her family on a white poster board placed in the high school’s commons area during the game.

“We have been blessed during this tragedy with non-stop support and love from family, friends, and the Washougal and Camas communities,” Lockard said. “They have wrapped their arms around Mia’s family and sustained us during this heartbreaking time in our lives. We are eternally grateful for the support, condolences, and empathy shown. We love you all.”

Before the game, which Washougal won 46-44 on two free throws in the final seconds, students and staff members covered the gymnasium’s walls and bleachers with dozens of pink signs containing messages of love for Tanner Lockard and admonishments of drunk driving.

“It was a wonderful night,” Washougal School District superintendent Aaron Hansen said. “It was a very respectful, thoughtful way to help support Mia’s family, the community, our students, and our staff. We’re going to miss her. I just really appreciate this community, which has a tendency to respond this way and come together. The energy in the gym was so helpful for dealing with grief.”

According to Washington State Patrol, Tanner Lockard, a student at Seattle Central College, was killed after an unidentified 17-year-old male driver traveling the wrong way on Interstate 5 near Lakewood, Washington, around 12:30 a.m. Friday, Jan. 24, hit the Honda Civic driven by Tanner Lockard with his pickup truck.

Tanner Lockard died at the scene. The male driver, a Buckley, Washington, resident, was uninjured. He has since been charged with driving under the influence and vehicular homicide. Both drivers were wearing seat belts at the time of the crash.

Washougal High School students dressed in pink for a Thursday, Jan. 29 boys basketball game to honor 18-year-old Mia Tanner Lockard, a 2024 Washougal High graduate who died Jan. 24 in a car crash in the Seattle area.
Washougal High School students dressed in pink for a Thursday, Jan. 29 boys basketball game to honor 18-year-old Mia Tanner Lockard, a 2024 Washougal High graduate who died Jan. 24 in a car crash in the Seattle area. (Doug Flanagan/Post-Record) Photo
Pink signs displaying supportive messages to the family 2024 Washougal graduate Mia Tanner Lockard, 18, who died in a Jan. 24 car crash, hang from the railings of the Washougal High School gymnasium during the Panthers boys basketball team's game against Woodland High School on Thursday, Jan. 29, 2025.
Pink signs displaying supportive messages to the family 2024 Washougal graduate Mia Tanner Lockard, 18, who died in a Jan. 24 car crash, hang from the railings of the Washougal High School gymnasium during the Panthers boys basketball team's game against Woodland High School on Thursday, Jan. 29, 2025. (Doug Flanagan) Photo