5 killed in separate crashes in Magdalena New Mexico

Two young children and a pregnant woman are among the five dead in separate weekend road fatalities that involved falling asleep at the wheel in one wreck, possible drunken driving in another and the lack of seat belt use in all three.“Fatigue and distracted driving is generally a common contributing factor in car crashes, but as far as contributing to the fatalities, seat belts are one of our largest concerns,” said Jimmy Glascock, deputy chief of New Mexico State Police.Added Emmanuel T. Gutierrez, spokesman for the New Mexico State Police: “We have this last summer weekend, and with that comes increased traffic. That increases your odds (of accidents), and when you add not using seat belts and using alcohol, you end up with these fatals.”An accident early Sunday was the most deadly of them all, killing three people.At about 7:30 a.m., 42-year-old Fred Apachito of Magdalena was headed toward the Alamo Navajo reservation with eight passengers. He fell asleep at the wheel of a white 1998 Dodge truck he was driving on U.S. 60, 10 miles west of Socorro, near Water Canyon campground, police said.The truck he was driving crossed into traffic, then struck a culvert on the shoulder and rolled over once, according to Gutierrez.Apachito was killed, along with his daughter, Delrena Apachito, 25, also of Magdalena, who was five months pregnant. His grandson, Shaijon, 3, who was Delrena’s son, was killed as well, police said.None of the passengers was wearing seat belts, according to Gutierrez, who added that, of the nine people in the truck, some were in its rear bed. “Who exactly was where,” he said, “is still under investigation.”District 11 Capt. Adrian Armijo, who oversees Socorro, Sierra and Catron counties, arrived at the scene just as helicopters and ambulances were taking everyone away.