Two men accused of illegal street racing will face multiple charges after a crash on the city’s north side left one woman dead on March 22, according to a news release Friday from Colorado Springs police.

Jerome Archer, 48, and Leeanaya Joey Martinez, 18, were allegedly racing on Briargate Boulevard when one vehicle entered oncoming traffic near its intersection with Lexington Drive, striking the vehicle of 77-year-old Deanna Stemler, who died as a result of the crash.

Archer and Martinez are facing charges of vehicular homicide, speed contest and speeding more than 40 mph over the limit, according to court records. Additionally, Martinez is charged with leaving the scene of an accident involving death, driving without insurance and failing to report an accident.

Archer and Martinez were booked into the El Paso County jail after turning themselves in on May 21 and Monday, respectively. Colorado court records show both have a criminal case history, including domestic violence.

Martinez, who turned 18 earlier this year, has one additional publicly available case after becoming an adult involving domestic violence. He is facing charges of second-degree tampering and harassment for an alleged incident that took place several weeks after the crash.

Court records show the most recent case Archer faced before this year was in 2007, when he faced his third habitual traffic violation case in three years. From 2001 to 2007 in El Paso County, Archer was charged in five cases involving alleged illegal driving and was convicted of eluding a police officer, driving while impaired and driving after license revocation three times.

Archer has been charged several times, but never convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol, leaving the scene of an accident and failure to report an accident.

He was also convicted of second-degree assault with a deadly weapon and third-degree assault in Teller County domestic violence case in 1995.

CSPD Cmdr. Pamela Castro declined to speak to the relationship, if any, between Archer and Martinez, but said in general that racing in Colorado Springs has occurred both between random individuals and between people who already know each other.

Castro told The Gazette that this fatal incident is indicative of “a problem” the city has with reckless driving.

Colorado Springs has had 23 traffic fatalities this year, nine more than at the end of May last year.

Castro attributed the increase to factors including an abnormally warm winter and more people commuting in the growing city. However, she does not believe that police issuing more citations to drivers will solve the problem.

“We can’t cite our way out of this,” Castro said. “I can’t issue enough traffic tickets to get people to slow down or not to run red lights, so I’m really asking the community to please have the honest conversation that there are life-changing repercussions from driving recklessly, carelessly or irresponsibly.”

She hopes incidents like the “horribly tragic” death of Stemler will spark those conversations, which she described as a determining factor in preventing these crashes.

“We all know those people that we don’t say something to when they’re driving, and it might be time that we just decide we’re not going to ride with them ’cause they’re too dangerous,” Castro said.

Anyone with information about the incident can contact police at 719-444-7000, or can remain anonymous by calling crime stoppers tip line at 719-634-7867.

Archer and Martinez will have their first appearance hearings in an El Paso County courtroom on Tuesday and June 10, respectively. Both are expected to appear out of custody after posting their $10,000 cash or surety bonds shortly after their bookings into jail.