Moreover, it's been confirmed that the country singer was speeding at 102 miles per hour when she hit the rear of one vehicle before careening into Maria Elena Cruz's vehicle at 95 miles per hour.
- Dec 6, 2019
AceShowbiz - New Mexico officials have finally completed the investigation into the fatal car crash that took the lives of country singer Kylie Rae Harris and a teenager named Maria Elena Cruz. In a press release, it's been confirmed that the singer was heavily drunk and speeding at the time of the collision.
According to the Taos County Sheriff's Office, Harris was speeding at 102 miles per hour when she hit the rear of one vehicle before careening into Cruz's vehicle at 95 miles per hour on September 4. In addition to that, the toxicology tests concluded that Harris had a blood-alcohol concentration of .28, which was more than three times the legal limit, at the time of the collision. Meanwhile, Cruz has no alcohol in her system.
Sheriff Jerry Hogrefe said in a statement, "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."
Autopsy on Harris' body has also been completed. In documents obtained by E! News, it's revealed that Harried died of blunt force trauma as a result of the high-speed accident. The New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator also confirmed that the blonde singer suffered abrasions on her face and legs as well as several fractured bones. A CT scan also showed multiple broken bones in her skull, as well as an abnormal collection of air in her skull, There was bleeding in the brain, and Harris suffered a broken neck.
Following the press release, Harris' family issued a statement expressing their sadness after knowing that alcohol contributed to her and Cruz's death. "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," so the statement read. "No family should have endured the heartbreak of losing a child."
Harris and Cruz were pronounced dead at the scene after a three-vehicle accident on State Road 522 in New Mexico on September 4. Her celebration of life service was held in Texas just days after the accident, with her 6-year-old daughter delivering a rendition of her song "Twenty Years From Now".
