SANTA FE, N.M. (KRQE) – The Santa Fe community is mourning after a car crash killed two faculty members from Santa Fe Indian School. New Mexico State Police (NMSP) said that crash happened early Thursday morning, just east of Abiqiui. “[It’s] a huge loss, a large amount of grief is being felt right now,” said Eric Brock, Athletic Director for Santa Fe Indian School.
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According to NMSP, Jason and Nathan Abeyta, who were brothers, were killed in a head-on collision just before 6 a.m. Thursday, after another vehicle driving in the opposite direction crossed into their lane. The other driver was also pronounced dead at the scene. “They’re just guys you love to talk to and love to see how they’re doing each day,” Brock said. “They would give the shirt off their back to each one of our kids if they needed it.”
Jason, who was 47 years old, the oldest of the two, was the school’s Head Basketball Coach, and a staff member the students and athletes looked up to. “Of course, as the basketball coach, he had merit with the kids,” Brock said.
Nathan, who was 42 years old, was the school’s Assistant Athletic Director, and someone the students could confide in. “Whether it just be to talk about something unrelated to athletics or school, maybe a movie or something or music,” Brock explained. “Or about athletics, or game they saw.”
The school said the brothers were deeply ingrained in their community, and their legacy will live on through the young lives they have impacted. “They knew that they wanted to have some sort of impact on kids that were like them in the gyms, and in the classrooms,” Brock added.