Las Cruces Police used traffic cameras, GPS and old fashioned detective work to track down the vehicle and driver witnesses photographed leaving the scene of a deadly midday hit-and-run earlier this week. The investigation led them to the door of Kimberly Skaggs, 54, a high-profile New Mexico Republican Party official who was already known to police for her involvement in dangerous street racing and speeding in luxury cars.
According to court records, at 2:46 p.m. on Monday June 22, Las Cruces police responded to calls of a bicyclist who had been struck by a black Cadillac Escalade on Fairacres Road. The bicyclist later died on scene. Witnesses observed the driver of the Cadillac walking around then entering their vehicle and driving away, leaving the bicyclist on scene. A witness’s photograph of the fleeing vehicle captured a partial license plate which police were able to use to track the vehicle through traffic and security cameras. GPS data from the vehicle led officers to find it parked at a residence owned by Skaggs. They found fresh damage and blood splatter on the vehicle. Skaggs was arrested Wednesday and held without bail on charges of leaving the scene of an accident involving death and tampering with evidence.
During the investigation, police say they discovered a citation for street racing issued in September to a similar vehicle with a matching license plate. The driver then was Kimberly Skaggs. Additional court records reviewed by New Mexico Political Report found show that a few months after the citation for street racing was issued, Skaggs was charged in December by Las Cruces Police with driving 88 miles per hour in a 55 mph zone while driving a Lamborghini SUV.
Skaggs, who owns a chain of private DMV companies, previously served as the head of the Doña Ana County Republican Party and executive director of the state party. She is now the treasurer for the state party. She ran unsuccessfully for State House District 36 in 2024, against Democrat Nathan Small where she campaigned on a tough-on-crime agenda.
Skaggs had been removed from the state party’s website by Thursday morning, though internet archives show that she was still listed online as a party official earlier this month when another update removed former Party Chair Amy Barela from the site after a district court judge removed Barela from her position following a lawsuit from party members claiming she used her position to benefit her own campaign in the Republican primary for the Otero County Commission. Last week, the party’s state central committee failed to achieve a quorum to hold a vote for a new chair. An email and text message to the acting chair asking for comment were not immediately returned.