Lone teen survivor of crash leaves hospital

Posted at: 07/17/2009 4:36 PM | Updated at: 07/17/2009 6:43 PM
By: Stuart Dyson, Eyewitness News 4; Charlie Pabst, KOB.com

The only teen to survive a deadly crash with a suspected drunk driver that killed four of her friends returned home on Friday.

16-year-old Avree Koffman left UNM Hospital Friday knowing her four friends didn't make it. Knowing that although she's out of the hospital, she's still got plenty of recovery ahead of her.

Avree's father, Dan Koffman, said Friday, "She's going home to outpatient rehab. She has some injuries. Her hip is not healed, so she can't walk, and the brain injury continues to heal and she'll get rehab for that."

Avree was driving a maroon Subaru on Old Las Vegas Highway a little after Midnight on June 28 when police say a Jeep coming the other way swerved into the wrong lane and smashed into the Subaru.

15-year-old Rose Simmons and 16-year-olds Julian Martinez, Alyssa Truow and Kate Klein all died in the crash.

The driver of the jeep, 28-year-old Scott Owens, later tested twice the legal limit for blood alcohol, Santa Fe sheriff's deputies say.

Avree's dad says although her memory is coming back, she doesn't remember anything about the crash itself.

"There are four families missing their children, and I'm just waiting for the next drunk driver to take out another family," Dan Koffman said. "We have to do something."

Avree's dad pledges to actively join the fight against drunk driving.

Santa Fe deputies say they found a 12 pack of Budweiser in Scott Owens' jeep, along with a couple empty cans of Tecate.

Owens is charged with four counts of vehicular homicide.

Print Story