Española woman charged with causing deadly crash

Santa Fe New Mexican, The (NM)

Jul. 20--A Rio Arriba County grand jury has charged a 25-year-old Española woman with causing a three-vehicle crash July 1 near Medanales in which a 51-year-old Tierra Amarilla woman died and at least three people were injured.

Police say Joslyn Herrera -- who has a history of traffic violations, drug charges and cases involving other alleged crimes -- drifted into the northbound lane of U.S. 84 just before the crash, according to online court records.

Herrera faces a charge of homicide by vehicle due to DWI or, in the alternative, homicide by vehicle due to reckless driving, the indictment says. A state District Court judge has ordered her to be held in jail without bond until her trial.

"Defendant's drug addiction has grown so severe that she has now killed someone," prosecutors wrote in a motion seeking to keep her detained.

It's unclear if Herrera was intoxicated at the time of the crash.

Her blood was drawn for drug and alcohol testing at Presbyterian Española Hospital after the crash, and medical staff discovered she had a black pipe containing residue, according to an affidavit for an arrest warrant.

But a spokesman for the First Judicial District Attorney's Office declined to comment on what substances, if any, were found in Herrera's blood, saying that would be "inappropriate."

The affidavit says two witnesses told officers with the Rio Arriba County Sheriff's Office that after crossing the center line, Herrera's Toyota Corolla collided with a motor home and then careened into a GMC pickup driven by nurse Lisa Schaefer, who died at the scene.

The driver of the motor home sustained a fractured sternum and multiple broken ribs, according to the affidavit, and two passengers in Herrera's vehicle sustained minor injuries.

Herrera and one of her passengers told officers the other car had drifted into their lane, while a third person in her vehicle said he didn't remember anything, the affidavit says.

The grand jury indictment, filed Wednesday in state District Court, says Herrera also is charged with two counts of great bodily injury by vehicle, failing to maintain her lane of traffic, driving on a suspended license, driving with no insurance, driving with no registration and improper display of a registration plate.

According to the sheriff's office, the plate on the Corolla she was driving belonged to a different vehicle.

Herrera's attorney could not be reached for comment Friday.

Herrera has received about a dozen citations for traffic violations since 2010 and has also been charged with shoplifting and possession of heroin and drug paraphernalia, court records show

She has a pending case accusing her of conspiring with family members to steal copper wire from 10 light poles in the U.S. 84/285 corridor and 13 light poles on two state roads in the area, according to the arrest warrant affidavit.

Schaefer, a mother of four who lived near Tierra Amarilla, had worked at La Clínica del Pueblo de Río Arriba for the past several years, a clinic official said.

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