Country Singer Kylie Rae Harris Drove Drunk At 102 MPH In Fatal Car Crash, Police Say
New details about 30-year-old country singer Kylie Rae Harris' fatal car crash have emerged three months after the three-vehicle accident happened on September 4 on State road 522 in New Mexico. Besides Harris, the crash caused one other fatality, a 16-year-old girl named Maria Elena Cruz.
According to Us Weekly, a press release from the Taos County Sheriff’s Office said that it concluded its investigation and found that the country singer "was driving 102 miles per hour when she struck the first vehicle in the southbound lane of Highway 522."
"Harris was still traveling 95 miles per hour when she careened head-on into a vehicle heading north in the other lane, killing 16-year-old Maria Cruz of San Cristóbal," the press release stated.
The Taos County Sheriff’s Office also said that Harris "had a blood-alcohol content of .28 at the time of the crash—more than three times the legal limit."
"The now-completed investigation supports what we suspected at the time of our initial investigation and my earlier press release that stated alcohol consumption was suspected and speeding was a factor," Sheriff Jerry Hogrefe said.
The country singer/songwriter was driving home from Texas to New Mexico for the Big Barn Dance Music Festival, where she was set to perform when the fatal crash occurred.
Harris’ family released a statement to People, and spoke of their sadness that alcohol contributed to the loss of two lives. "The family of Kylie Rae Harris received the toxicology report and deeply regret that alcohol contributed to the tragic deaths of Maria Elena Cruz and Kylie," the family said. "No family should have to endure the heartbreak of losing a child."
Days after the fatal accident, Harris’ mother Betsy Cowan told the publication that alcohol was "something [Kylie] struggled with on-and-off over the years," but declined to share more details "out of respect to both families."
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