A young girl who suffered a severe head injury in a suspected drunken driving crash last week on Rodeo Road faces "a long road to recovery," her mother said.
Six-year-old Jaylah Martinez was released from the hospital recently and is now off a ventilator, her mother said Thursday.
Dylan Michael Ortiz-Delgado°®¶¹appof Santa Fe, the driver accused of causing the Nov. 15 crash, remains jailed. The DWI charge he faces is at least his third.
Dylan Michael Ortiz-Delgado
“”Ģż°®¶¹appto raise money to cover Jaylah's medical expenses says she was placed in a medically induced coma after the Nov. 15 crash due to a fractured skull and brain bleeding, and was placed on a ventilator to help her breathe.
"We want her to be the same happy girl that we know and love," the GoFundMe page states.
The fundraiser had collected over $6,300 of a $20,000 goal by Thursday night.
"It breaks our heart that she had to experience such a traumatic experience," Jaylah's mother, Sheila Martinez wrote in a message Thursday, noting the child's recovery will be difficult. "Brain injuries like the one she had are extremely dangerous, and we will be doing everything we can to help her heal."
Ortiz-Delgado, 36, faces charges of great bodily harm by vehicle while driving under the influence, attempt to disarm an officer, reckless driving and leaving the scene of an accident, according to a criminal complaint filed Monday in Santa Fe County Magistrate Court.
The crash occurred shortly after 2 p.m. Nov. 15 on Rodeo Road at the intersection with Galisteo Street. Police said in a statement of probable cause Ortiz-Delgado was driving a Ford Explorer westbound on Rodeo Road when he crashed into a Lexus sedan driven by Jaylah's father, who was attempting to make a right turn onto Galisteo.
A 10-year-old boy identified as°®¶¹appJaylah's cousin was also riding in the car and was hospitalized after the crash with a concussion, police said in the statement.
An officer wrote that shortly after he arrived at the scene, paramedics°®¶¹app extracted Jaylah from the back seat of the Lexus through a window and rushed her by ambulance to Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center. From there, she was airlifted to a hospital in °®¶¹app.
A car was struck in a suspected drunken driving crash Nov. 15 in Santa Fe, critically injuring 6-year-old Jaylah Martinez.°®¶¹app
Photo courtesy Sheila Martinez
Ortiz-Delgado told an officer he had consumed four beers before driving, according to the statement of probable cause. The officer was walking Ortiz-Delgado to his patrol vehicle across the street from the crash when Ortiz-Delgado reached for his handgun, the officer wrote. The officer punched him in the face twice and threw him to the ground, the statement says.
Another officer alleged in the statement she saw two Santa Fe Brewing Co. IPA cans in Ortiz-Delgado's SUV.
According to the statement, Ortiz-Delgado is suspected of running over a mailbox several miles away on Calle Halcon and leaving the scene shortly before the crash. At least one witness reported seeing him driving recklessly and passing other vehicles on the shoulder of Rodeo Road, police said.
Investigators issued a warrant to test Ortiz-Delgado's blood-alcohol level the night of the crash. Santa Fe police Capt. Lawrence Barnett said the results of the blood test were not yet available Thursday.
A crash reconstruction that could determine the approximate speed°®¶¹appOrtiz-Delgado was driving at the time of the crash was also pending,°®¶¹appBarnett°®¶¹appadded.
Ortiz-Delgado remains in the Santa Fe County jail, where he was booked on the evening of the crash. Prosecutors filed a request for him to be held in jail pending his trial. A hearing is scheduled Dec. 4 to determine if he will remain jailed.
Prosecutors wrote in a court filing Ortiz-Delgado "has a history of intoxication and placing others at risk," adding he "poses a danger to the entire community, including the motoring public."
He has been convicted of DWI twice in Santa Fe, once in 2008 and again in 2017.
An officer pulled Ortiz-Delgado over on Cerrillos Road in 2017 after he veered out of his lane five times, the officer wrote in an affidavit at the time. Police gave Ortiz-Delgado three breath-alcohol tests, which yielded results of 0.17 to 0.21, more than twice the legal limit for driving, the document states.
A charge of aggravated DWI filed against Ortiz-Delgado in 2008 indicates a breath test showed his blood-alcohol level was higher than 0.16 in that incident as well.
