Six people were killed and several more were injured in separate car crashes around the state Friday and Saturday — three of which were head-on collisions.
Alcohol is not believed to be a factor in any of the incidents, according to New Mexico State Police.
The first crash occurred around 10:30 am Friday on State Road 11 in Luna County.
Officer Ray Wilson, a State Police spokesman, said 20-year-old Caleb De Santiago, of Las Cruces, was traveling north in a Nissan Tsuru when he crossed the center line and collided head-on with a 43-year-old Columbus man driving a Toyota Corolla.
De Santiago died at the scene. The other driver was taken to the hospital and his condition was unknown.
Several hours later, around 3 pm, there was another head-on collision in Luna County — this time leaving two people dead.
Wilson said a 15-year-old was driving a Toyota Tacoma east on State Road 26 when he crossed the center line and struck a Dodge pickup truck head-on. Both of his passengers — Martyn Pearson, 38, and Alexandra Olsen, 40 — died at the scene.
The 70-year-old driver of the Dodge pickup and the 15-year-old were taken to the hospital for non-life-threatening injuries.
Pearson and Olsen owned Gila Hike and Bike shop in downtown Silver City and were well-known in the area, according to the Las Cruces Sun News.
The following morning across the state in Quay County a 32-year-old man had parked his Chevrolet Impala on the north side of US 53 westbound lanes, with the driver’s side of the vehicle still partially in the lane.
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Wilson said around 10 am a truck rear-ended the Impala, knocking it off the road. Both the driver, Ervin Burton Jr. of Chicago, Illinois, and his 27-year-old passenger were injured. Burton died at the hospital; his passenger’s condition is not known. Wilson said they weren’t wearing seatbelts.
The 42-year-old truck driver was not injured.
Then, on Saturday afternoon, 24-year-old Leanna Florez of Blanco, New Mexico, was traveling west on US 64 in San Juan County when she crossed the center line and crashed head-on into a Toyota Tundra.
Wilson said Florez was not wearing a seatbelt and died at the scene. He said the 58-year-old driver of the Tundra and his three passengers were injured and taken to the hospital.
That night, around 8 pm, on the same highway but more than 40 miles away a pedestrian was crossing the road when he was struck by a 51-year-old driving a Mitsubishi Outlander, Wilson said.
Ramon Natividad-Garcia, 40, of Bloomfield was taken to the hospital, where he died. The driver and passenger of the Mitsubishi were not injured.
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