Texas country singer dies in Taos County crash
Alcohol, speed suspected as contributing factors
TAOS — A teenager who attended Taos High School and an up-andcoming singer-songwriter from Texas, Kylie Rae Harris, were killed in a threevehicle crash Wednesday night on N.M. 522, north of Taos.
The student, 16-year-old Maria Cruz of San Cristóbal, was the daughter of Pedro Cruz, deputy chief of the San Cristóbal Volunteer Fire Department, who responded to the crash scene.
Investigators from the Taos County Sheriff ’s Office said speed appeared to be a contributing factor in the collision, reported around 9 p.m. Wednesday. Alcohol also was suspected as a contributing factor, the sheriff ’s office said, but investigators were awaiting a toxicology report
from the state Office of the Medical Investigator for confirmation.
The sheriff ’s office determined Harris was driving south on N.M. 522 toward Taos in a Chevrolet Equinox. She clipped the back of a Chevrolet Avalanche, sending her vehicle into the northbound lane, where she hit the teen’s Jeep head on. Harris and Maria Cruz — who were both wearing seat belts, according to the sheriff ’s office — died at the scene.
The third driver, whose name has not been released, was uninjured, the sheriff ’s office said.
Students and faculty at Taos High School were shocked Thursday morning as news of Maria Cruz’s death spread, with many visibly shaken.
Harris, 30, of Wylie, Texas, who leaves behind a 6-year-old daughter, Corbie, had released a new self-titled album, her third, in the spring. She appeared in the syndicated show Troubadour, TX in 2013, a documentary series following the lives of singers and songwriters. The singer, who has family roots in Taos, was scheduled to play Thursday at Michael’s Hearne’s Big Barn Dance in Taos.
Sara Hearne Naftis, who helps produce the event, said organizers were “absolutely devastated” by her death. Harris had been attending the Big Barn Dance off and on for years, Hearne Naftis said, and often was invited by other musicians to jump onstage and join in. “This was the first year she was going to play her own set. She was a huge part of the Big Barn Dance family.”
In a Twitter post Wednesday, Harris wrote, “Fuel range is 46 miles and I’m 36 from the nearest gas station. Dear baby Jesus please don’t let me get stranded in NM.”
Harris also posted an Instagram story after arriving in Taos, sharing memories of her visits to the town over the past 20 years with family members. Several family members lived in Taos, she says in the tear-filled video. “Literally, everybody that was here has passed away, except for my uncle, including my dad.”
She speaks of driving the familiar stretch of roads “and remembering my place in the back seat.”
Alex Torrez, the CEO of her management company, Torrez Music Group, said in a statement to CNN, “We are heartbroken to confirm that Kylie Rae Harris passed away in a car accident last night. We have no further details to share, and ask for privacy for her family at this time.”
A GoFundMe page has been created to raise funds for Harris’ funeral and her daughter. The page had raised more than $11,000 by Thursday afternoon.
“Kylie was always so sweet to everyone who came in her path and as we mourn, I’d like us to come together and help take some of the burden away from her family and daughter,” a friend who helped organize the fundraiser wrote in a post on the page. “I’m hoping we can raise enough money to cover her funeral as well as help with funding money for her daughter Corbie’s college fund.”
Funds also are being raised to help the Cruz family with funeral costs. A dinner originally planned to raise funds for the San Cristóbal Community Center in the village northeast of Taos will now benefit the family. The enchilada dinner is from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Friday at the community center.
Taos County Fire Manager Mike Cordova said donations to help the family also can be dropped off at the Taos County Fire and EMS office, 1397 Weimer Road.
A version of this story was first published by The Taos News ,a sister paper of The New Mexican.