Navajo community mourn death of sisters

SANTA FE (KRQE) - Santa Fe Police said a man, known to be a repeat drunk driver, is responsible for a five vehicle pile-up Friday night that left two sisters Del Peshlakai, 19, and Deshauna Peshlakai, dead.

The Peshlakais are from Naschiti, a Navajo community south of Farmington. They were very well-known at Newcomb High School where Del graduated in 2008 and Deshauna was months away from her own graduation.

“When you saw them, their facial expressions just made you want to smile right a long with them, that's the type of girls they were," Newcomb High School Principal Albert Madera said.

On Sunday, school administrators met up to prepare themselves for one of the hardest days they'll face this year.

On Monday morning grief counselors will be on hand to help students cope with the reality that's slowly sinking in.

“It’s something that we’re going to deal with but we're going to be hurting for a while,” Madera said. "Deshauna did have some aspirations.”

Madera said Deshauna and Del played many sports but the conversation would often turn to basketball.

"The name Peshlakai is really synonymous with girl’s basketball over the past few years that's where they have really made their mark, that's how the community knows them,” Madera said.

Both Del and Deshauna played basketball. It was basketball that brought them to Santa Fe Friday night. Deshauna's high school team had a game. She was injured and didn't play but the tight-knit family still made the trip.

Not long after the game tragedy struck. Police said James Ruiz, 34, a man with a history of reckless and drunk driving, plowed into the car Deshauna was riding in. Investigators said Deshauna and Del were riding in the back seat. They both died.

“It really was just a tragic loss,” Madera said.

Police said Ruiz may have been driving drunk. When he slammed into the Peshlakai family Friday night on Cerrillos road it set off a chain reaction and in the end five vehicles were involved in the crash. Police said a total of 15 people were involved and eight of those were transported to a Santa Fe hospital.

Del and Deshauna’s mother and father were sitting in the front seats of the smashed car. They are still recovering at Christus Saint Vincent Regional Medical Center in Santa Fe.

For Newcomb high school the reality of the tragic night will set in Monday morning. The girl with big dreams will no longer walk the halls at Newcomb High.

"She did touch a lot of people here at the school, including the staff,” Madera said.

Police said a passenger in Ruiz truck who was also taken to the medical center may soon face charges.

Ruiz is charged with two counts of vehicular homicide and one count of driving on a revoked or suspended license.