Authorities confirm that a 39-year-old woman who died after leading law enforcement on a roughly 30-mile through Weld County last week was .
The Adams County Coroner’s Office said Barbara Ann Blanton-Marez killed herself in Brighton at the intersection of U.S. 85 and Weld County 2 after slamming into a police vehicle.
The coroner’s office says the Grand Junction woman died of a gunshot wound to the head.
Blanton-Marez is the only suspect in the fatal stabbing of her estranged husband, 50-year-old Lawrence Marez, who was found June 1, according to the Mesa County Sheriff’s Office.
“Through the course of the homicide investigation, the evidence consistently points to Barbara likely being the sole suspect,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement.
Blanton-Marez also was wanted on a non-compliance warrant for walking away from Mesa County Community Corrections on May 29 where she was serving a three-year sentence for stabbing a previous boyfriend. She was due for release in 2018.
Blanton-Marez was driving a red Ford F-150 pickup on June 3 during the chase, which at times reached 100 mph. Police say she drove southbound in the northbound lanes of U.S. 85 as law enforcement pursued.
The incident ended when Blanton-Marez slammed into a Brighton police cruiser, injuring an officer.
Four jurisdictions were ultimately involved in the chase.
Witnesses reported hearing gunshots after the crash, but police declined to say if officers fired any bullets during the incident.
Investigators tracked Blanton-Marez to Greeley, where the chase began, through cellphone records and through an application of hers at a temporary employment agency.
Authorities in Mesa County say their investigation into the killing of Lawrence Marez remains ongoing.
Jesse Paul: 303-954-1733, jpaul@denverpost.com or twitter.com/JesseAPaul
