Hit and run victim known for her bright spirit

State Police have identified the victim of a fatal hit-and-run reported on Nov. 11 on Highway 60 just west of Socorro as 38-year-old Katrina Martineau of Reserve.

Family members said she had been walking home from the Socorro hospital.

“She had a bright spirit, and she was always willing to help anybody if they asked her, and she was always happy and smiling.” Anastasia Martineau, of Reserve, said of her sister. “So what happened to her was really tragic.”

According to State Police, a Magdalena resident who was traveling west on Highway 60 at 9:58 a.m. on Tuesday reported seeing a body on the roadside. Officers found a woman’s body approximately 25 yards to the east of the road. Police said it appears she was hit by a vehicle traveling west around 1:50 a.m. on Nov. 11.

During the investigation, Catron County deputies told State Police they had been in contact with Katrina Martineau the day before her death and she was transported to Socorro General Hospital, where she refused treatment and walked out.

According to reports, Catron County deputies said she had mental health and substance abuse issues, and they had received multiple calls regarding Katrina Martineau walking in the middle of the road.

Anastasia Martineau said in the days leading up to her sister’s death, Katrina Martineau was going through a lot, and her family was trying to get her the help she needed and believes her sister’s death was preventable.

“Mental health should be taken more seriously,” Anastasia Martineau said.

She said on Monday, the police were able to approach Katrina Martineau and take her to Socorro for a mental evaluation. Officers took Katrina Martineau to the emergency room but Anastasia Martineau said her sister left the emergency room and started walking back to Reserve.

On a GoFundMe page for Katrina Martineau, her fiancé, Lawrence Baca wrote:

“Everyone has problems in their lives, and sometimes we let things into our lives that are better left alone,” Baca wrote. “But all problems aside, Katrina was a cat-loving, star-gazing soul who left an empty hole when she left my life.”

Anastasia Martineau said she and her sister were adopted from an orphanage in Russia when they were teenagers, and they lived in a loving home in Aragon. Her sister was the mother of three children and was living with her fiancé in Reserve.

“She was a really good person and she was really nice. She would do anything for anyone,” Anastasia Martineau said. “It’s really a tragedy to us, it’s really traumatizing.”

If anyone has any information regarding this incident, they are asked to call New Mexico State Police dispatch at (575) 382-2500.