A deadly weekend in the mountains north of Pecos saw two deaths in separate incidents on N.M. 63.
A 17-year-old boy was killed and three other minors were injured in a single-vehicle crash Sunday evening a couple of miles north of Pecos, New Mexico State Police said. The boy’s death came a day after a toddler was fatally struck by a driver about 4 miles farther north on the highway in Pecos Canyon.
New Mexico State Police spokesperson Wilson Silver declined to provide the names of the deceased boys.
The teenager was driving a Chevrolet SUV on N.M. 63 and “failed to negotiate a turn in the road,†Silver wrote in an email.
The SUV rolled and the teen was ejected, he wrote. Police were dispatched to the accident — which took place near the Lisboa Springs Hatchery — around 6:30 p.m. Sunday. The boy was pronounced dead at the scene by the state Office of the Medical Investigator.
Police have determined he was driving “at a high rate of speed,†Silver wrote, adding officers are investigating whether alcohol was a “determining factor†in the crash.
Three other young people who were riding in the SUV sustained minor injuries, according to Wilson. The incident remains under investigation.
The 3-year-old boy was struck and killed around 5 p.m. Saturday on N.M. 63 near the intersection with Dalton Canyon Road, also known as Forest Road 123. Silver wrote in an email Saturday the boy’s family had been camping in the area with friends and pets.
At one point, the child was in the roadway with several dogs.
A car traveling north on the highway saw the dogs and stopped, Silver, wrote.
However, after the dogs were removed, the driver continued without realizing the child remained in the roadway.
“The driver was not able to see the boy standing by the vehicle,†Silver wrote. “The boy was struck by the vehicle and succumbed to his injuries.â€
