Grants Pass woman killed in crash; other driver arrested (photo)
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Oregon State Police
Emergency workers tend to the scene Saturday morning on New Hope Road, where Chrystal Starr Berko, 41, of Grants Pass was killed when her car, at right, was struck by an oncoming car, left, driven by Stuart Douglas Hamilton, 21, of Grants Pass. He is accused of DUII, reckless driving and manslaughter.

Oregon State Police say the woman killed in a crash early Saturday south of Grants Pass was local resident Chrystal Starr Berko, 41.

Her car was struck by an oncoming car on New Hope Road at about 2:25 a.m. She died at the scene.

The other driver, Stuart Douglas Hamilton, 21, of Grants Pass was uninjured. He faces charges of DUII, reckless driving and manslaughter.

State police said Berko was headed north in a 2000 Honda Civic when Hamilton’s southbound 2001 Subaru Legacy crossed into her lane. The two vehicles collided nearly head-on.

The crash occurred near Allen Lee Road, about one-half mile from the Williams Highway in Grants Pass. Hamilton, who lists an address off of Krugar Lane in the New Hope area, is being held at the Josephine County Jail.

The crash occurred two days after Jesse Michael Rigel, 29, of Wimer was sentenced to nearly six years in prison after pleading guilty to DUII and assault in a June 21 head-on crash that seriously injured Tate and Stacy Fabian on New Hope Road near Lonnon Road, about one-half mile from Saturday's crash.