3 members of LV family die in crash

Cathy Scott

Wednesday, May 28, 1997 | 10:48 a.m.

Three members of a Las Vegas family were killed in New Mexico as they were driving to Tulsa, Okla., for a wedding.

The Rev. Paul Brooks, 49, his wife, Alisa Brooks, 32, and her 10-year-old son, Caleb Nelson, were killed early Friday when the Ford Explorer they were in went off the road and rolled several times. Stacia Nelson, 12, Alisa Brooks' daughter, survived.

The Rev. Robert Winn of Southern Hills Baptist Church in Tulsa, where the family were once members, had known Paul Brooks for 25 years. Winn described Brooks as "my best friend."

Brooks had just resigned this month from the Spring Valley Baptist Church, where he was an administrator and music director. A pastor from the Spring Valley church was in Tulsa today to give the closing prayer at the funeral.

Winn said the family was driving to Tulsa to attend Brooks' oldest daughter's wedding, scheduled for this Friday night.

"The daughter was planning to move to Las Vegas after the wedding," said Winn, who will also be presiding over today's funeral services, set for 10:30 a.m.

High winds across Interstate 40 in Tucumcari, N.M., caused the car to go off the road, and Brooks apparently overcorrected, Winn said. The utility vehicle rolled several times.

"A person who was following them saw the whole thing," he said.

The family had left Las Vegas Thursday afternoon and had planned to drive straight through to Tulsa, Winn said.