UPDATE: Police ID 1 of 2 Killed In Early-Morning Crash At Construction Site
El Paso police identified one of the people who were killed in an early-morning crash Thursday on the 3400 block of Paisano Drive near the Race Track Drive exit.
The driver, 42-year-old Karina Torres-De Ruiz, who lives in El Paso, and the passenger, a 52-year-old man from Deming who was not identified, died at the scene, police said.
Investigators said Torres-DeRuiz was driving west on Paisano Drive in a GMC Envoy about 2:50 a.m. when she passed an escort vehicle stopped in the left lane behind the road grader that was also stopped. When Torres-DeRuiz veered back into the left lane, she struck the rear of the John Deere road grader, which was being operated by Javier Rincon.
Rincon and other passengers in the work convoy were not injured.
The westbound lanes of Paisano between Executive Center Boulevard and Sunland Park Drive were closed until 9 a.m. as police continue the investigation.
These are the city’s 51st and 52nd traffic-related deaths in 2011, compared with 51 at the same time last year.
The passenger’s identification will be released upon notification of next of kin.