An 80-year-old Three Points woman was killed and her daughter was injured after the car they were in was struck head-on by a vehicle fleeing the Border Patrol southwest of ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥.
Four men, including two illegal immigrants, in the fleeing vehicle were injured in the Thursday night crash; none of the injuries was life-threatening, authorities said.
Gracie Baldwin died as she was being flown by helicopter to the University of ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ Medical Center. Her daughter, Kelly Schwalenstocker, 55, who was driving the 2007 Ford Focus, underwent knee surgery Friday at UAMC, said Janelle Laczny, Baldwin’s great-granddaughter.
“Everyone is devastated. My great-grandma was a wonderful woman who always was smiling,†said Laczny, 25. “We can hear her telling us not to be upset,†Laczny said through tears on Friday.
Laczny said Schwalenstocker had taken her mother for a medical exam and the two women, who live together, were headed home when the crash happened.
People are also reading…
The incident started about 5 p.m. when Border Patrol agents in an unmarked SUV slowed to make a U-turn to follow a vehicle agents believed was carrying illegal immigrants headed north on South Sierrita Mountain Road just south of West Ava Road, near the community of Three Points, according to authorities.
As the agents turned, the vehicle sped off. The agents did not activate their emergency lights and did not chase the car, said Deputy Tracy Suitt, a Pima County Sheriff’s Department spokesman.
Moments later, agents said they saw smoke nearby.
Agents found the fleeing vehicle had crashed head-on into another car.
Two men in the speeding car ran from the crash scene but were apprehended. William Huebbe, 30, the driver, and Robert Butcher, 25, a passenger, were hospitalized at UAMC.
Two other occupants, both illegal immigrants, were also injured and taken to UAMC.
Huebbe and Butcher were booked into the Pima County jail. Huebbe is facing charges of leaving the scene of a crash involving death or physical injuries. Butcher is facing charges of having an outstanding felony warrant, according to authorities.
Meanwhile, Laczny and her relatives are trying to cope with Baldwin’s death and Schwalenstocker’s injuries. The family remained at UAMC Friday while Schwalenstocker was undergoing knee surgery. “It will be a long road to recovery because she has broken bones in her foot and hip fractures. She is under heavy sedation,†Laczny said.
She recalled her great-grandmother loving her life on her 5 acres in Three Points, were she lived for more than 25 years planting fruit trees and tending to her flower garden. She also cared for her two Bengal cats she adopted from the Pima County Animal Care Center.
Baldwin and her husband, Joe, who died in early 2000, had lived in ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥, Globe and in the White Mountains area because Joe worked in construction. The couple married in Globe 62 years ago and raised four children. They all worked at various times for Baldwin Construction Co., a ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ business owned by Joe’s brother.
Baldwin enjoyed canning fruit and making apple butter, and she was also famous for her pineapple upside-down cake at family gatherings. “She loved to cook and bake, and we would all get together at her house for years to enjoy the holidays or family dinners,†said Laczny, adding that Baldwin will be remembered fondly by her 12 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren and the family will share stories with her three great-great-grandchilden.
