Man sentenced for 2023 hit-and-run death in Auburn

Published 4:40 pm Thursday, March 26, 2026

A man charged with a felony hit-and-run death has received a parent sentencing alternative for an incident where he struck and killed a man in Auburn.

On March 20, a King County Superior Court judge sentenced Correy Garrison, 28, whose last known address was in Renton, to a parent sentencing alternative. Garrison’s charge stems from an Oct. 22, 2023, incident that occurred at about 12:46 a.m. in the Lea Hill area, where he fatally struck 34-year-old Farhad Baradaran. According to charging documents, after hitting Baradaran, Garrison called the person he borrowed the car from, told them that he struck a pedestrian who jumped in front of the car, that he had been drinking and that he had fled the scene out of fear.

According to the Department of Corrections, the parent sentencing alternative was made for nonviolent offenders with minor children because research shows that children of incarcerated parents are significantly more likely to end up in the criminal justice system. The parent sentencing alternative allows defendants to avoid prison time while remaining in community custody, provided they adhere to certain conditions and participate in parenting programs.

With an offender score of two, Garrison’s sentencing range was between 41 months and 51 months. The prosecution recommended that Garrison serve 41 months — a little under three and a half years.

The 41-month sentence was recommended because the Department of Corrections did not find that Garrison was suitable for a parent sentencing alternative. However, Garrison’s counsel provided mitigating factors in its sentencing report, citing that the court still had discretion to impose a parent sentencing alternative despite the Department of Corrections’ opinion. The report stated that Garrison is an active father of four children, is remorseful about his actions and has a desire to improve.

Additionally, the defense’s report included an analysis of the collision from an accident reconstruction expert. According to the report, evidence from the scene of the collision suggests that Baradaran moved toward the vehicle Garrison was driving, that Baradaran was not in a crosswalk, and that Baradaran caused himself to be hit by Garrison.

In a victim impact statement, Baradaran’s father stated that they did not agree with a recommendation of a parent sentencing alternative because he and his wife did not feel parental status mitigated the death of their son, and he requested the maximum sentence. Baradaran’s father stated that Garrison leaving the scene after causing the crash was not an accident or a lapse of judgment, but a deliberate act of abandonment and evasion in the face of another human being’s death.

Details of the case

According to charging documents, at about 12:46 a.m. Oct. 22, 2023, near the intersection of 124th Avenue Southeast and Southeast 307th Place in Auburn, medical personnel were dispatched to a serious injury collision involving a pedestrian. At the scene, Baradaran was lying in the center of the roadway, and despite life-saving efforts, he was pronounced dead at 1:23 a.m.

Documents state that Baradaran’s neighbor was already on the phone reporting that Baradaran stated that he was going to hurt himself or others when the collision occurred. Baradaran’s neighbor told officers that Baradaran walked toward the roadway before he heard the collision, and the vehicle fled the scene.

Documents state that the next day at 1:58 a.m., officers received a call from a woman who said she was renting the vehicle involved in the collision from Lyft, but when the incident occurred, she let a friend — later identified as Garrison — borrow the vehicle. The renter of the vehicle said that Garrison called her and told her that the vehicle was involved in a collision, but he had been drinking and left the scene out of fear. Documents state that the renter told officers that Garrison said that the person he hit had been acting weird and jumped into the vehicle.

Documents state that the renter would not tell officers who drove the vehicle, but officers found video of Garrison leaving a nearby 7-Eleven before the collision. His phone placed him in the area of the scene after the crash and DNA from the involved vehicle was found to be consistent with Garrison.