Two teen boys charged with murder in death of New Mexico bicyclist

Police in New Mexico said a 13-year-old boy has been with murder, took an 11-year-old into custody and are searching for a 15-year-old boy in connection with the deadly hit-and-run of a bicyclist that was recorded on video from inside a stolen car and circulated on social media.

Albuquerque police said the 13-year-old and 15-year-old have both been charged with 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.

Authorities believe the 13-year-old was the driver of the car that killed 63-year-old physicist Scott Dwight Habermehl, who was fatally struck at around 4:40 a.m. on May 29, 2024, as he was biking to his job at Sandia National Laboratories. 

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The 15-year-old and an 11-year-old boy, who is too young to be charged with murder, are believed to have been passengers in car, police said. 

“The boys videotaped the crash from inside the car as the driver swerved from the southbound lane on Moon St. onto a dedicated bike lane and struck Habermehl,” a Monday police statement said. The kids in the car saw the flashing light on the bicycle and audio of the recording indicated they planned to hit the bicyclist.”

Video of the crash was recorded from inside the car and circulated on social media. Detectives received a tip about the video being posted to social media. A middle school principal also reported to Albuquerque Public Schools police that a student reported the same video of the crash.

In the recording, a voice believed to be the 13-year-old driver is heard saying that he was about to hit the bicyclist before accelerating the car, authorities said. He is then heard saying, “Just bump him, brash,” police said. 

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“Like bump him?” the driver asks. 

“Yeah, just bump him. Go like…15…20,” another passenger said. 

“There were loud sounds, including metal flexing, as the momentum of the crash carried Habermehl and his bicycle on top, and off, the passenger side of the vehicle,” police said. 

The 11-year-old, who was allegedly waving a handgun at the time of the crime, will be put in the custody of the state’s Children, Youth & Families Department and evaluated. A little over a week after the fatal crash, police had arrested him on an unrelated felony warrant, according to law enforcement.

Detectives are working with prosecutors and state social workers “to determine what charges he may face and whether he can be held on those charges,” according to the police statement.

The case echoes a similar hit-and-run in Las Vegas that killed a retired police chief who was bicycling as the teen suspects laughed.