Charges refiled in 2020 crash that killed two

Woman accused of driving under influence of several prescription drugs

Vehicular homicide charges were refiled this week against a woman accused in a June 2020 crash on U.S. 84 north of Española that killed 29-year-old Felisha Barela and 23-year-old Justice Gutierrez-Cruz.

Cory Christine Johnson faces two counts of vehicular homicide. She is accused of driving under the influence of multiple prescription drugs, according to a document filed Monday in the First Judicial District Court in Santa Fe.

A criminal complaint filed in Rio Arriba County Magistrate Court after the incident says a witness told deputies responding to the crash Johnson was southbound on U.S. 84 when her vehicle suddenly veered into oncoming traffic, causing a head-on collision.

Johnson was taken to Presbyterian Española Hospital and then airlifted to University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque. Medical responders provided emergency aid to Barela and Gutierrez-Cruz, but they showed no signs of life, according to the complaint. Funerals for both women were held at the Zion Worship Center in Pojoaque, with burials at Nuestra Señora de Dolores Cemetery in Chimayó, their obituaries said.

Barela worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory, according to her obituary, while Gutierrez-Cruz was a young mother who loved to dance, sing and coach.

Initial charges filed against Johnson in Magistrate Court — vehicular homicide due to reckless driving — were dismissed in April 2021 for further investigation, court documents show. The case was refiled in September 2022 showing amended charges of homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence of morphine, oxycodone, alprazolam, midazolam and nordiazepam.

The case was later dismissed without prejudice after essential witnesses did not appear at a hearing, but it was refiled again Dec. 8. On Monday, the cased was moved to District Court. Gutierrez-Cruz’s grandmother, Caroline Esquivel, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Johnson after the crash, and a settlement was reached in March.

Esquivel also sought a restraining order in 2021, alleging Johnson’s daughter had sent her threatening messages via Facebook.