Route 66 crash victim ID’d

Copyright © 2008
Gallup Independent
By Phil Stake
Staff writer

GALLUP — At 7:53 a.m. Thursday, a black Chevy pickup and a blue GMC Blazer collided head on near Jay Street on Historic Route 66, killing one elderly female and injuring four people.

The front passenger of the Blazer, Joan Barnie, was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver, Taylor Wilson, and two rear-seat passengers, Emma and Rochelle Jim, suffered unknown injuries and were transported to the hospital. The Blazer had been heading west on Historic Route 66, where the speed limit is 45 mph, when it drifted into the eastbound lane and struck the black Chevy pickup head on, according to Vince Begay, a city employee who had been traveling behind the pickup and witnessed the crash.

“It just kind of drifted over,” Begay said. “It was pretty quick.”

The driver of the pickup, Tom Kenny, sustained minor injuries to his right leg, according to Lt. Rick White, a detective on the scene. Kenny was able to go under his own power to the hospital for medical attention. At the time of impact, Kenny had been driving to work at a construction site some 100 yards from the crash, Begay said.

According to Gallup Police Detective Victor Rodriguez, who is investigating the crash, Taylor had been taking the late Joan Barnie to a medical appointment when the wreck occurred.