The Reno Gazette-Journal
RENO, Nev. - Three days after being critically injured in an automobile accident while on duty, Nevada Highway Patrol Trooper Kara M. Kelly-Borgognone has been declared dead, the NHP has announced.
Doctors at Renown Regional Medical Center had been conducting tests on Kelly-Borgognone, a married 33-year-old mother of two daughters, to find suitable recipients for organs. She was an organ donor and doctors finished the procedures about 2:45 a.m. today, Trooper Chuck Allen said.
“It’s very somber here in the office,” Allen said. “The sworn personnel have been asked to go ahead and shroud their badges.”
One employee is making black ribbons for non-sworn personnel to give them a chance to show their respect for Kelly-Borgonone, Allen said.
The driver of the vehicle that crashed into Kelly-Bourgognone’s patrol car has been identified as Matthew Henderson, 30 of Sun Valley.
The trooper was driving north on the Pyramid Highway on a report of a possible bomb at a Terrible’s gas station in Spanish Springs. When she drove through the intersection that has Highland Ranch Parkway on the west side and Sparks Boulevard on the east side, Henderson is alleged to have crashed into her vehicle as he was driving east on Highland Ranch Parkway.
The Washoe County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the crash. Deputy Brooke Keast said Wednesday it could be next week before any investigation is complete.
A trooper for two years, Kelly-Borgognone is married to Dirk Borgognone and they have two daughters, Ashlyn, 3, and Blair, 13.
A memorial service for Kelly-Borgognone will be at 11 a.m. on Wednesday at the Lawlor Events Center on the University of nevada, Reno campus.
A special bank account to benefit the family of Nevada Highway Patrol Trooper Kara Kelly-Borgognone has been set up, the NHP reports. Account number 83067603 at Irwin Union Bank, 5496 Reno Corporate Drive Reno, NV, 89511 has been started. Branch manager Stacey Taylor can be reached at 784-9700.
Anyone wishing to send sympathy cards or flowers for the family can send them to:
NHP Northern Command
357 Hammill Lane
Reno, NV 89511
Copyright 2008 The Reno Gazette-Journal