SUTHERLAND, Neb. (April 15, 2025) — One person is dead and another hospitalized following a high-speed crash Monday near the intersection of North Prairie Trace Road and West Snake Road, north of Sutherland, according to the Lincoln County Sheriff's Department.
Deputies and Sutherland first responders were dispatched around midday on Monday, April 14 after a report that a vehicle had left the roadway and struck a tree.
When deputies arrived, first responders were attending to the male driver, identified as 24-year-old Alexander Gomez of Sutherland, who was found outside the vehicle. A female passenger, identified as 22-year-old Jade Torres of Sutherland, was pronounced dead at the scene.
According to investigators, evidence showed the 2014 Ford Explorer was traveling southbound on North Prairie Trace Road at a very high rate of speed. The vehicle went airborne after crossing a set of railroad tracks, landed, then went airborne a second time. While airborne, the vehicle rolled a quarter turn before the roof collided with a large cottonwood tree. The impact crushed the roof into the passenger compartment.
Gomez was transported to Great Plains Health with serious injuries, including a fractured neck, a collapsed right lung, a fractured shoulder blade, and brain bruising. He remains hospitalized as of the latest report.
Authorities said Gomez consented to a blood-alcohol test, which returned positive for alcohol. The Sheriff's Department said he will be arrested at a later date.
The crash remains under investigation.