A 44-year-old Cordova man pleaded guilty, Nov. 18, in the hit-and-run death of a construction worker.
Daniel Romero pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide, leaving the scene of an accident causing death, tampering with evidence, aggravated fleeing an officer and aggravated assault on an officer in what appears to be a global plea deal, across two cases.
First Judicial District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies wrote on her Facebook page that Romero was sentenced to nine years in prison and the court suspended 9½ years, “which Romero must serve if he violates probation.”
Court records show that the plea hearing was held, but the plea deal, or other documents outlining what happened in court, were not uploaded into the court system by press time.
Romero hit and killed Mario Armando Rascon-Estrada in 2021, but he was not indicted on the charges until a few years later, when Española City Police Detective James Mayers was able to link DNA and fingerprints on a stolen truck to a passenger who identified Romero as the driver. DNA evidence from the truck then linked Romero to the truck and the crash, Mayers wrote in an affidavit for an arrest warrant.
Mayers was given the case in July 2023 and found that fingerprints and DNA evidence indicated a woman, not charged, was in the truck. When interviewed, she gave police Romero’s name.
Another witness told police that Romero allegedly stole the truck from the Vista del Rio apartments.
When Romero was arrested in December 2023 on an unrelated case, Mayers applied for a search warrant for his DNA to compare it against what was collected from the truck and in early March, New Mexico State Police testing matched DNA from Romero to that found in the truck, he wrote.
Rascon-Estrada was working Dec. 13, 2021 on El Llano Road, when a red truck crossed over into the opposite lane of traffic and crashed into him, finally stopping in a fence, Mayers wrote.
State Police analysis of the crash estimated that the driver, alleged to be Romero, was going 53 mph when he hit Rascon-Estrada, who was wearing a bright orange safety vest.
After running over Rascon-Estrada, the truck continued over Calle Culebra, and was then abandoned. Two people, a man and a woman, were seen running away from the truck, Mayers wrote.