Surviving teen's blood test released

SANTA FE (KRQE) - A teen driver had trace amounts of marijuana in her when a collision with a suspected drunken driver near Santa Fe killed four other teens in her car, the state Department of Health reported Monday.

DOH spokeswoman Deborah Busemeyer said blood drawn from Avree Koffman, 16, revealed metabolized marijuana. That indicated Koffman used marijuana within the 30 days prior to the June 28 crash but was not impaired at the time.

The test also showed a sedative called Versed, but Busemeyer said it was administered by paramedics while Koffman was being flown to University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque.

She survived serious injuries and was release from the hospital on July 17.

Rose Simmons, 15, and Julian Martinez, Alyssa Trouw and Kate Klein, all 16, died in the collision on Old Las Vegas Highway southeast of Santa Fe. Investigators suspect Scott Owens, 28, had been drinking and crossed the center line in his Jeep Cherokee into the path of the Subaru sedan driven by Koffman.

Owens remains jailed charged with four counts of vehicular homicide and one count of great bodily injury by vehicle. Blood also was drawn from Owens two hours after the crash with tests showing a blood-alcohol level of 0.16, twice the legal limit for presumed intoxication under state law, according to the District Attorney for Santa Fe County.