A Navajo medicine man, in a generations-old rite of healing, blessed the site of a Cerrillos Road crash that killed two sisters, and asked for physical and spiritual healing of those who were injured, those who helped the injured and those who were left behind to grieve.

Santa Fe police blocked off southbound Cerrillos Road from Camino Entrada to Cristo's Road for an hour Sunday afternoon so that Clement Nez, 66, of the Navajo community of Naschitti, north of Gallup, could conduct the ritual for about 50 friends and relatives of Deshauna Peshlakai, 17, and her sister Del Lynn Peshlakai, who would have turned 20 Sunday, both of Naschitti.

The two died of injuries suffered when the car in which they were riding with their parents was allegedly struck from behind by a pickup driven by James Ruiz, 34, of Albuquerque, shortly before 9 p.m. Friday. The collision set off a domino effect that also involved three other cars.

Deshauna was pronounced dead on the scene, and Del Lynn died early Saturday morning at Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center.

The girls' parents, David and Darlene Peshlakai, suffered serious injuries but were reported to be in stable condition Sunday at Christus St. Vincent.

A passenger in Ruiz's truck, whom police did not identify, remained in stable condition in the hospital, said Police Chief Aric Wheeler.

Ruiz, held in the Santa Fe County jail, is charged with two counts of vehicular homicide and one count of driving with a suspended or revoked driver's license.

According to online court records, Ruiz has multiple DWI offenses and spent 60 days in a rehabilitation program in California in 2008. Jury selection was set to begin Wednesday in a 2008 drunken-driving case.

Wheeler said a sample of Ruiz's blood was being tested for alcohol content. The police chief said he suspects that alcohol was a factor in the crash.

Nez began his ceremony about 3:30 p.m. as family and friends encircled him along the curb on the west side of Cerrillos between Camino Entrada and Cristo's Road. Participants had parked their vehicles, about 20 of them, in the middle of southbound Cerrillos, cordoned off by police.

Nez prayed in Navajo and used an eagle feather dipped in water to bless members of the gathering, including police Chaplain Jose Villegas, who assisted in the service.

The medicine man, with the gathering following him as a cold rain began to fall, then proceeded to the exact spots on Cerrillos where the two sisters were struck, and more prayers and blessings were offered.

Friends and relatives placed roses in the median dirt, and planted other flowers and laid balloons along the west side of Cerrillos in remembrance of the sisters.

In addressing the family in the police station parking lot before the blessings, Wheeler called the accident "a huge tragedy" and said justice would be done.

"It's a rough one, even for us," Wheeler said.

Lee Peshlakai, an uncle of the girls, said Nez's healing rite also was being conducted for the benefit of the community of Santa Fe, and in thanksgiving for "all those who helped," including police officers, medical care providers at the scene and at the hospital, and Santa Fe Indian School officials and parents who raised $2,500 in donations for the family.

"All can benefit from the healing," Lee Peshlakai said. "People are upset and angry, (Nez's blessings) can "ease everybody's minds."

Nez said he has been a medicine man since he was 15, and that his father and grandfather also were Navajo healers.

Mayor David Coss, who had issued condolences to the family on behalf of the Santa Fe community Saturday, was at the site of the Navajo ritual but did not participate.

The sisters and their parents had just left a basketball game between Newcomb High School, which the girls attended, and Santa Fe Indian School in the opening round of the Class AAA girls' state basketball tournament.

All seven Peshlakai siblings had played for the Newcomb team, according to a family member. Deshauna had injured an ankle earlier in the basketball season and did not play in Friday's game.

Dennis Carroll can be reached at dcarroll@sfnewmexican or 986-3091.