A UNM student was killed Dec. 18 in a head-on collision by a suspected drunk driver near Cuba, N.M.
According to a statement released by Lt. Eric Garcia, New Mexico State Police spokesman, geology major Ashley Forsythe, 20, was heading north on State Road 550 near milepost 67.
Ronald Martinez, 36, was driving south with his lights turned off in the northbound lane in a Chevy Cavalier when he collided with Forsythe’s Ford Ranger, according to the statement.
Officers were dispatched just after 6 p.m. The Office of the Medical Investigator pronounced Martinez dead at the scene. Forsythe was taken to UNMH where she later died. Forsythe was wearing her seat belt, but Martinez was not.
NMSP officers observed an open container of beer in Martinez’s vehicle.
Adrian Brearley, earth and planetary sciences professor, taught Forsythe in an introductory geology class in Fall 2008. He said the news of Forsythe’s death devastated his colleagues and himself.
“She was very highly regarded by all her instructors that taught her,” he said. “I think this is a devastating event that has an impact on everybody. We all developed very strong personal relationships with our students. When you see this kind of young, talented individual — their life coming to end like that — it affects us all very deeply.”
Brearley said a separate memorial service is planned for after the break, but details are still being worked out.
Brearley said Forsythe’s determination and work ethic made her a diamond in the rough.
“She’s very quiet but very thoughtful and always very diligent and hardworking and obviously had a passion for the subject,” he said. “Any loss like that is so tragic, just a waste of an incredibly talented young lady.”
On top of studying geology at UNM, Forsythe worked with the United States Geological Survey and aspired to study the world’s volcanoes in the future.
Nicole Thomas, hydrologic technician at the USGS Water Science Center, said Forsythe’s presence at the research institution will be sorely missed.
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“I worked and went to school with her, and I would just like to say that Ashley will be missed here at the United States Geological Survey where she worked in the Water Science Center, Sediment Lab,” Thomas said in an e-mail. “She was very proud of her position here.”
