Motorist Arraigned After Injuring Principals In Head-On Collision

A ruptured spleen and breathing on a ventilator. These are just some of the injuries a Las Cruces couple, also well-known educators, are fighting through after being hit head-on by a drunk motorist this past weekend. Judith Foster is the principal at University Hills Elementary School in Las Cruces. Her husband, George Foster, is the principal at Desert Pride Academy, the alternative high school in the Gadsden Independent School District.

The defendant?s arraignment took place via video conference inside Dona Ana County Magistrate Court Tuesday afternoon. No cameras were allowed inside, but ABC-7?s New Mexico Mobile Newsroom watched the defendant, 30-year-old Nancy Moreno, sit with her head down and wipe tears from her face as the victims? family members told her what pain and suffering she has caused them.

“It’s not fair, she shouldn’t have been out on the street anyway,? Ashley Foster, one of the victims? daughters, said. ?She had a revoked license that hadn’t been dealt with, she had three prior convictions that had not been dealt with that we found on the state website? it’s not fair, she should not have been driving. I was angry to see her, I want to forgive her but I’m angry because this happens a lot.”

Emotions ran high among the Fosters? children as their parents recover from severe injuries.

“Just senseless, you don’t want any family to go through this,” Brian Foster, the victims? son, said.

George cannot talk or breath on his own as he remains in intensive care, and his wife, Judith, is hospitalized with a ruptured spleen, Brian said.

The family believes the couple survived on a prayer, as they saw their parents? crushed Chevy Tahoe for the first time Tuesday afternoon.

The Fosters were traveling southbound on Stearn Drive Saturday night when Moreno, headed northbound, hit them head-on, police said.

Moreno is charged with causing great bodily injury, driving with a suspended or revoked license, and DWI ? something Moreno has has had at least one other conviction for earlier this year, the family said.

“It’s just, it’s frustrating, it’s not fair and I don’t want to ever see other people get away with driving drunk and I don’t want it to be ok, it’s not ok,? Ashley said. ?I’m sorry for her but I’m not sorry about her being in prison.”

Angry, the Foster family questions why someone with a criminal history was on the road in the first place.

“We don’t want to be angry toward her that’s not how we are that’s not how my family is, but she needs to get off the road and she needs help,” Tashya Carrillo, the Fosters? other daughter, said.

Ashley said she is getting married in three weeks, and it would be a miracle if her father could be there to walk her down the aisle.

Moreno is being held on $25,000 cash bond.