11-year-old in custody after hit-and-run killing of New Mexico bicyclist filmed on video
This story was updated to clarify the potential charges the 11-year-old could face, and to update the age of the third suspect, who was 15 when the incident occurred but is now 16.
An 11-year-old boy has been taken into custody in connection to the hit-and-run death of a bicyclist in New Mexico last year that was filmed and uploaded to social media, police announced this week.
The 11-year-old was taken into custody Tuesday and will be evaluated by the New Mexico's Children, Youth, and Families Department, the Albuquerque Police Department said in a news release. He was previously evaluated in June 2024 when he was taken into custody for other crimes, police said.
Police previously said they were working with the district attorney’s office and the Children, Youth, and Families Department to determine charges. Nancy Laflin, a spokesperson with the Bernalillo County District Attorney's Office, said 11-year-olds can face murder charges in the county, clarifying an earlier statement made by police that said the pre-teen was too young to face such a charge.
One teen still sought in connection to 2024 death
The 11-year-old is the second person police have detained in connection to the May 2024 death of 63-year-old bicyclist Scott Habermehl.
A 13-year-old was arrested on March 17, and as of Wednesday morning, police are still searching for a 16-year-old they say was involved.
Both the 13-year-old and the 16-year-old are facing an open count of murder, conspiracy to commit murder, leaving the scene of an accident involving great bodily harm or death, and unlawful possession of a handgun by a person, police said.
The crash happened while Habermehl was on his way to work at Sandia National Laboratory around 4:40 a.m. on May 29, 2024, police said previously. He was in a dedicated bike lane when a driver hit him.
Inside the silver or gray sedan were the 13-year-old driver, the 11-year-old in the passenger seat and the 16-year-old in the back seat, police said. Video footage filmed from inside the vehicle shows the boys planning to hit the man.
When asked whether the boys would be tried as adults, the Office of the Second Judicial District Attorney in New Mexico declined to answer, citing the active investigation.
Boy recorded other crimes he was involved in, police say
Police said the 11-year-old was involved in a series of other crimes in weeks leading up to the deadly hit-and-run.
The 11-year-old was a suspect in some electronic doorbell thefts on May 11, 2024 and had previously been listed as a missing endangered juvenile by the Torrance County Sheriff’s Office, Albuquerque police said.
Then on May 17, 2024, there was a store robbery. According to Albuquerque police, someone backed a stolen vehicle into the store before multiple people got out of the vehicle and stole beer, cigarettes and other items and fled in another vehicle.
The damages were estimated to be over $15,000, police said. They later identified the 11-year-old as a suspect in the case and said he used a camera or phone to record the robbery.
In a May 2024 criminal complaint against the 11-year-old, officials claim the boy “shows a clear pattern of misconduct that is escalating in violence.”
“(The boy’s) actions are creating a dangerous situation for the citizens of Albuquerque and himself,” police said, quoting the criminal complaint.
Next came Habermehl’s death on May 29, 2024, police said. As the crash happened, the 11-year-old was in the passenger seat waving a handgun. He then laughed as his side of the car hit Habermehl. Habermehl died at the scene.
Police said crime decreased in neighborhood when 11-year-old was arrested
The 11-year-old has been named as a suspect in multiple shootings, as well as more burglaries, police said.
He was named in a June 2024 shooting where a teen was shot in the hand, police said. As investigators looked into the case, they searched the home where the shooting took place and found firearms and law enforcement equipment stolen from police vehicles, such as a bulletproof vest.
“While nobody wants to arrest an 11-year-old boy, the evidence suggests he and other teens were driving serious crime in these neighborhoods,” Albuquerque Chief of Police Harold Medina said in late June. “We were concerned about the escalating level of violence this child was engaging in, and we were lucky someone wasn’t killed.”
How did the video of the crash begin to circulate?
The video the boys took the night of the fatal hit-and-run was uploaded to Instagram, police said.
In the footage, the 13-year-old was driving, the 11-year-old was in the passenger seat holding a gun, and the 16-year-old was in the back seat.
One of the boys said to “hurry up” and hit the bicyclist before he started to turn.
According to police, the rest of the conversation went like this:
16-year-old: Don’t hit him hella fast. Just bump him, brah.
13-year-old: Like, bump him?
16-year-old: Yeah. Just bump him. Go like 15, 20.
In February, an anonymous tipster contacted police and told them about the video and its uploader. The case was transferred to the homicide unit on Feb. 25.
As detectives looked into the Instagram account, a student reported the video to a middle school principal working for Albuquerque Public Schools. The school division then reached out to police.
Investigators had previously seized phones belonging to the 11-year-old and the 13-year-old in June 2024 as part of a separate investigation. Once police secured warrants to search the phones and the juveniles’ social media accounts, they found multiple video clips of the three boys, as well as the video of the crash.
On March 14, officials charged the 13-year-old and 16-year-old in the fatal hit-and-run, police said.
The 13-year-old was arrested on March 17, the 11-year-old was taken into custody Tuesday, and the 16-year-old has yet to be found, police said.
A spokesperson for Albuquerque Public Schools, who also told police about the video, said in a statement to Paste BN this week that the division is glad a student told officials what they saw.
“We go to great lengths to encourage members of our school communities to say something if they see something, and we’re glad the individual who saw the video spoke up,” the spokesperson wrote.
Saleen Martin is a reporter on Paste BN's NOW team. She is from Norfolk, Virginia – the 757. Email her at sdmartin@usatoday.com.