After a deadly hit-and-run on Fairacres Rd., one passerby describes a moment of humanity amidst the chaos.
Carol Nielson was driving on Fairacres Rd. when something caught her eye.
“I came around the curve and up ahead I saw a black SUV stopped in the road. I started slowing down, I was a fair distance away and I started slowing down, before I got too close the SUV suddenly took off,” Nielson said.
As Nielson got closer to the scene, she realized that a man had been hit by a car. That man was Andrew Brown who had been crossing the street with his bicycle. While she did not see the actual crash, Nielson joined others who were helping Brown and calling an ambulance. She recalls one man who helped comfort Brown.
“I will say I think it was a nice thing to see in the sense that he immediately was able to go into a compassionate place. He knelt down next to the gentleman and held his hand and just started to talk to him, trying to get some information but also just trying to provide comfort because he was clearly in so much pain. Just unimaginable pain,” Nielson said.
Brown would later pass away at the scene.
She said that over time over 6 people showed up to help and comfort Brown in his final moments.
“It was definitely a group effort. What I would describe as very tragically beautiful in the sense that it's so tragic that he had to go through that and he lost his life and also beautiful to see complete strangers in our community coming together and try our hardest to do what we could to make sure that in his last moments his life mattered because his life clearly didn't matter to the person that hit him but his life mattered to us,” Nielson said.
Police later identified Kimberly Skaggs as the driver of the SUV. She turned herself in June 24.
As Nielson left, she reflected on the sense of unity that was formed during this event.
“It felt like one of those important moments of unity and compassion which felt very different. In some ways, I think it makes experiences like that confusing because it is really hard to witness something like that and its just unimaginable what he went through passing away in that manner and also just a feeling of love in a sense when complete strangers come together and they are focused on doing the best with what they have in not a very good situation,” Nielson said.
Brown's family has since filed a lawsuit against Skaggs alleging wrongful death saying that Brown died needlessly and Skaggs was speeding at the time of the incident.
No date for a hearing has been set for the lawsuit. Meanwhile, Skaggs, the former New Mexico Republican Party treasurer, is jailed on felony charges for leaving the scene of a crash resulting in a fatality and tampering with evidence. A judge denied Skaggs bond at a hearing Monday.
