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Arizona woman charged in deaths of two Portales women

An Arizona woman is facing trial in Canyon, Texas after being charged in the deaths of two 21-year-old Eastern New Mexico University students, Analuisa Mendoza and Alicia Bustos.

Rayna E. Smith, 19, who Randall County court records show has an address in Queen Creek, Ariz., has been charged with two counts of intoxication manslaughter with a vehicle in the Oct. 13 accident on I-27 south of Amarillo in Randall County.

According to a Texas Department of Public Safety report, the accident was a head-on collision between the pickup truck Smith was driving and the car Mendoza and Bustos were in.

At last year’s Dec. 10 ENMU graduation, Mendoza’s family received her posthumous associate’s degree.

At an ENMU regents meeting on Nov. 29, Jamie Laurenz, ENMU’s vice president of academic affairs, said Mendoza would have completed her degree in December. Laurenz said Mendoza was planning a career in law enforcement.

A request for comment left by voicemail at the office of Smith’s Amarillo attorney, Randall Sherrod, was not returned.

Randall County court records listed no court date scheduled yet for proceedings on the charges.