Police ID woman who died in crash

Police on Sunday released fresh details in the single-vehicle crash Saturday afternoon that left one dead and caused a six-hour closure on a stretch of Interstate 25.

Santa Fe Police officers responded to the southbound lanes of I-25 near St. Francis Drive at about 3:45 p.m. Saturday and found a silver Jeep Wrangler that had rolled over from the northbound lanes. Both the driver and sole passenger had been ejected from the vehicle.

Police said a Pecos woman, 29-year-old Christiana Romero, died shortly after the crash at Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center.

A man, 23-year-old Ramiro Esparza, also of Pecos, sustained injuries that were not lifethreatening.

Police spokesman Lt. Paul Joye, said of Esparza’s condition: “He’s going to survive his injuries, but he’s going to require some hospitalization for a while.”

The crash caused police to reroute traffic from the southbound lanes between the Old Pecos Trail and St. Francis Drive exits. The lanes didn’t reopen until 10:10 p.m., Joye said.

The cause of the crash remains under investigation. Joye said investigators are trying to determine who was driving the Jeep, whether alcohol or drugs were involved, and whether charges are warranted in the case.