Girl dies after being thrown from truck

CLOVIS, N.M. (AP) - A 14-year-old Texico girl has died after the wind caught a mattress she was riding on and threw her from the bed of her mother's pickup truck.

Casandra Garza was pronounced dead at the scene Wednesday.

Curry County Undersheriff Wesley Waller says Garza was holding down mattresses while riding in the back of a truck driven by her mother, 39-year-old Christine Uballe.

Waller says they had just picked up a mattress at a storage unit in Clovis. The posted speed limit in the area of the accident is 55 mph, but investigators haven't disclosed the truck's speed.

New Mexico law requires minors to always be restrained in a vehicle, using a child safety seat or seat belt.

Waller says the investigation is continuing.

Information from: Clovis News Journal