Sun-News Reports

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LAS CRUCES — The woman struck and killed by her own car Thursday on the city’s East Mesa has been identified as 62-year-old Jill Thompson of Las Cruces.

The Las Cruces Police Department confirmed the woman's identify on Friday afternoon in a news release.

Shortly before 10 a.m. Thursday, police were dispatched to the report of an injured woman on the 5000 block of Wild Bill Lane. Officers arrived to find the woman pinned underneath her 1974 Plymouth Satellite.

The woman, later identified as Thompson, succumbed to her injuries prior to officers arriving on scene.

Traffic investigators learned that Thompson's sister became concerned when she heard the vehicle engine running near the driveway. The sister went to check on the vehicle and found Thompson pinned underneath the vehicle, police said.

Investigators believe Thompson started the Plymouth in the carport and walked to the end of the driveway to open chain-link gates near the roadway. Police also suspect that Thompson accidentally started the vehicle while the automatic transmission was in reverse instead of park. The investigation leads police to believe the car began reversing and struck the woman as she opened the gates.

As part of the investigation, investigators placed the transmission in reverse and turned the ignition. The vehicle started.

The woman’s death appears to be accidental, police said.