A child died Monday in a collision on U.S. Highway 491 near Dove Creek after a driver in a traffic stop drove away from officers and allegedly caused a three-car collision that injured the girl, according to the Dolores County Sheriff’s Office.
According to a news release from Sheriff Don Wilson, deputies contacted a white, four-door car with New Mexico license plates about 1:15 p.m. Monday after receiving a report from dispatchers in Cortez that a northbound driver on the highway was drifting into the southbound lane.
The driver was identified as Michelle Harvey of Farmington, New Mexico.
A Dolores County deputy also reported seeing the northbound Harvey in the southbound lane and made a traffic stop at mile marker 54, about 7 miles south of Dove Creek. Deputies described the stop as part of a DUI investigation, Wilson said.
But when a deputy asked Harvey to exit the vehicle, she drove away at “high speed,” nearly hitting a deputy, Wilson’s news release said.
According to Wilson, deputies attempted to make a second stop, and Harvey struck a northbound vehicle, “causing that vehicle to go into the southbound lane. The northbound vehicle was struck by a southbound vehicle,” the news release said.
According to Wilson, the occupants of the southbound vehicle suffered minor injuries and were released at the scene.
The child, a passenger in the northbound vehicle, died as a result of injuries suffered in the crash, Wilson said. The driver of the northbound vehicle was flown to a hospital with life-threatening injuries at 2:33 p.m., said Gabriel Moltrer of the Colorado State Patrol. Moltrer placed the scene of the crash at mile marker 58, 4 miles away from the scene of the initial stop.
Moltrer said he had few other details and needed information from an investigating officer.
A GoFundMe page was organized to raise funds for the funeral of the child, identified as Kyrie Gladys Ann McKensley, 11, of Towaoc. Services are scheduled for 10 a.m. May 17 at Ertel Memorial Chapel in Cortez. Interment will follow at Towaoc Cemetery.
Harvey is scheduled to appear in Dolores County Combined Courts May 16 at 9:30 a.m.
Wilson was not available for comment or information, his office said Wednesday afternoon. The Colorado State Patrol is now investigating the case.
