Two teens die, two injured, in crash

Two teens die, two injured, in crash

October 25, 2001

Journal Staff Report

Two Montezuma-Cortez High School graduates were killed Tuesday evening when their car sped through a stop sign at the intersection of county roads 29 and M and collided with another vehicle, according to the Colorado State Patrol. Three other persons were injured, two seriously, in the accident.

Cassie Blair

Thomas Quinnett, 18, and Cassie Blair, 18, a passenger in his car, died of massive head and chest injuries, according to the State Patrol. Blair was pronounced dead at the scene and taken to the Ertel Funeral Home. Quinnett was transported to Southwest Memorial Hospital, but was pronounced dead on arrival.

The two teenagers had recently graduated from MCHS, according to school officials, and were active, well-liked students while they were there.

Students say the two had a close circle of friends and enjoyed music and snowboarding.

"They were well-known," said Garan Shaw, managing editor of the Panther Press. "It is very sad around the school. Classes are holding discussions about it."

Blair had planned to work at the Telluride Ski Area this winter.

Seventeen-year-old Daniel Leber of Las Lunas, N.M., also a passenger in Quinnett’s car, was taken to Southwest with head injuries, broken ribs, a lacerated spleen, and a fractured left leg. He was transported to the University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque, where he was reported in satisfactory condition Wednesday afternoon, according to a hospital spokesperson.

The final passenger in Quinnett’s car, Mitchell Leber, 19, also of Las Lunas, was also taken to Southwest, then to UNM. He was in critical condition with head injuries, according to a spokesperson at Southwest.

No one in the Corolla was wearing a seat belt, according to the patrol’s report.

The driver of the other vehicle, Jimmy Burton, 21, of Cortez, was wearing a seat belt and sustained a broken wrist, according to the State Patrol. He was taken to Southwest.

According to the patrol’s report, the accident took place at approximately 6 p.m. Quinnett’s car, a 1986 Toyota Corolla, was eastbound on Road M at approximately 65 mph and sailed through the stop sign at the intersection with Road 29, the Totten Lake Road. The Corolla’s left side smashed into the front of Burton’s 1992 Ford Explorer, which was traveling the speed limit, 40 mph.

The Corolla careened off the southeast corner of the intersection and traveled 142 feet before coming to a rest, according to the report.

There was no indication that alcohol or drugs were a factor in the accident, the patrol said Wednesday.

At the crash site during lunch hour Wednesday, a half-dozen grief-stricken students gathered, shaking their heads in disbelief as they scanned the ground for mementos of their lost friends at the notoriously dangerous intersection.

Counselors were on hand at MCHS Wednesday for those struggling to come to terms with the sudden deaths. School administrators initiated crisis procedures to deal with the emotional needs of the school community.

"It’s having a big effect on students and faculty," said Chuck Durnin, a MCHS counselor. "We’re available to let people express themselves."