The family of a 19-year-old Alcalde woman killed in an alleged drunk driving crash last April are reeling from the news that the District Attorney’s office has reached a plea deal with the suspect that would free him in 10 months.
Jose Escobar Herrera, 22, a Mexican immigrant, was set to stand trial this week on a charge of homicide by motor vehicle after his girlfriend Natasha Mondragon was killed when he crashed his car into hers April 13, 2008, on State Road 68 in Velarde. Herrera had a blood alcohol concentration of .11 (the legal limit is .08) when he was tested after the accident, court documents state.
Mondragon and Herrera were involved in a two-car rollover at around 10:40 p.m. that night. Herrera rolled his car in the southbound lane and sustained an arm laceration. Mondragon’s car was forced off the road into a residential yard where she was ejected from the car, and pronounced dead at the scene, according to court documents.
Assistant District Attorney Kathryn Thwaits confirmed Monday that a plea hearing in the case is set for Friday at state District Court in Santa Fe.
“It’s not set in stone yet,” Thwaits said. “We have an agreement but it’s subject to change at any point.”
Thwaits would not give any details about what charge Herrera agreed to plea to, the possible sentence he faces or why the office offered him a plea deal. Sheriff’s deputy James Lujan, one of the responding deputies to the crash, said he heard Herrera had pleaded guilty to the original charge of homicide by vehicle.
Herrera’s attorney, Justin Lee, did not return calls for comment.
Mondragon’s mother, Mary Mondragon, met with Thwaits Feb. 2 in preparation for the trial, she said. But later last week, Mondragon got a call from the District Attorney’s office.
“They called my parents and said, ‘We already did a plea bargain with him,’” Mondragon’s oldest sister, Terri Jimenez, said. “He admitted to being drunk and forcing her off the road. I guess that was good enough for them.”
Mary Mondragon said Thwaits told her that Herrera would serve 10 months in jail (in addition to the eight he has spent while awaiting trial) before being deported.
“They said, ‘We had the whole accident reconstructed and we’re not sure, Natasha may have caused the accident,’” Mary Mondragon said. “That’s when I really blew up. They want to pin it on my daughter, who was sober, protecting the drunk. My daughter’s not here to speak so they’ll say whatever they like.”
Mondragon said she pressed Thwaits for why the accident reconstruction wasn’t conclusive, asking whether there was sloppy police work. She said Thwaits answered, “I wouldn’t exactly say that, but they didn’t measure the radius of the tire.”
Lujan said the accident reconstruction was done by Sante Fe County Sheriff’s Department deputy Dennis O’Brien, an accident reconstructionist. O’Brien refused to comment.
Deputy J.B. Turner, who handled the DUI aspect of the case, said he believed it was unclear whether Herrera was solely to blame for causing the fatal crash.
“In my personal opinion there was kind of a domestic going on,” Turner said. “She was trying to catch up to him to talk to him and he didn’t want to. He swerved into her. I don’t think he intentionally wanted to kill her, but I think he rammed into her intentionally, yes. Of course, she can’t speak.”
The night of the crash, Mondragon and Herrera returned to the Alcalde house where she lived with her parents. Mondragon got the car keys, while Herrera stayed outside, and for reasons she can’t quite explain, her mother tried to dissuade her from leaving.
“I took the keys from her,” Mary Mondragon said. “I said, ‘No, mijita, don’t go, you’re going to get killed.’ I thought, ‘Wow, why did I say that?’ I didn’t think to say those words, those words just came out of my mouth.”
Natasha Mondragon was concerned about Herrera driving home to Taos because he was drunk, and said she had to go to make sure nothing happened to him, her mother said. Before they saw her car after the crash, Mondragon’s family did not suspect Herrera intentionally caused Mondragon’s death.
“The investigator told me you could see the skid marks where she tried to brake like she was being pushed,” Jimenez said. “I saw the car and it was hit three times.”
Mary Mondragon said it was her understanding Herrera struck the car three times over a 446-foot distance where the skid marks appeared on the road. Besides the damage to the car from Herrera’s car striking it, Mondragon noticed another strange thing about Mondragon’s car. Inside was a stuffed animal, a knife case and pictures Mondragon had given Herrera. Based on that and information from some of Mondragon’s friends, it’s Mary Mondragon’s impression her daughter broke up with Herrera that night, and apparently angered him.
On Sunday night, Mary Mondragon was amazed to receive a call from Herrera, in custody at the Rio Arriba County Jail. He apologized but said he didn’t hit Mondragon’s car, she said. That show of remorse is far from how Turner remembers Herrera behaving at the crime scene.
“He showed very little remorse, matter of fact he even denied that she was his girlfriend,” Turner said.
Mondragon said she expected Herrera to get at least two-and-a-half years in prison out of a maximum of six years for causing her daughter’s death, and said the reason New Mexico’s roads are unsafe is the leniency shown drunk drivers.
“You cause somebody to die because you were driving while under the influence, that’s pretty clear cut,” Lujan said. “My opinion is they should give (Herrera) the maximum penalty. It’s a life that this guy took. I feel for the family; they’re the ones that are missing out on her. She was a good girl.”