Authorities on Friday identified the woman killed in a crash Thursday morning in southwest La Plata County as Heather Taylor, 29, of Hesperus.
Taylor was driving northbound when her silver 2005 Toyota Sequoia went off the left side of the road. It went down an embankment, rolled, collided with a tree and came to rest on its roof, said Capt. John Trentini, with the Colorado State Patrol in Durango.
The crash occurred at 8:20 a.m. about 1.8 miles north of the New Mexico state line.
Based on initial reports, the State Patrol said Thursday three children were in the car. On Friday, Trentini said four children were in the vehicle.
All four children were properly restrained and received minor injuries, he said. The oldest child was 8 years old.
La Plata County Coroner Jann Smith said Taylor wore a seat belt at the time of the crash.
Trentini said Taylor was driving too fast for the icy road conditions.
Neither drugs nor alcohol are suspected factors in the crash, he said.
In addition to being a mother of four, Taylor was self-employed doing online sales with a company called Ruby Ribbon, said her husband, Brian Taylor, during an interview Friday with The Durango Herald.
She was also involved with the parent-teacher organization at Fort Lewis Mesa Elementary and an effort to bring Ascent Classical Academy charter school to Durango. She also was involved with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he said.
Taylor had a certain energy and drive, he said, but was not overbearing or pushy.
“It came from a loving spot, and a spot where she gave invitations for people to try things to become better,” Brian said.
He said the children were released from the hospital with “very minor” injuries.
A GoFundMe page had raised $10,640 as of Friday. The page can be viewed at bit.ly/3JEq9yI.
“She’s self-disciplined, driven, motivated, always setting goals to stretch herself to make herself a better mother, a better person in the community, always reaching out to others to lift others,” Brian said. “Her biggest focuses in her life that she filled every day was to her family and to her God, her Father in Heaven. She lived her faith through example.”
shane@durangoherald.com
