Malachi Velasquez-McCormick held in fatal Albuquerque DWI crash

Malachi Velasquez-McCormick will stay jailed in Albuquerque pending trial, a judge ruled Thursday. He is accused of causing a crash that killed an 11-year-old boy. A judge found him too dangerous for release.

Prosecutors said Velasquez-McCormick was driving drunk and high Saturday night on I-40. He swerved into another lane and struck an SUV carrying six people. Braxton Ahasteen was killed.

Prosecutor Guinevere Ice said the community cannot remain safe if the defendant is freed. She noted he was on juvenile probation at the time. “Obviously he made this decision to drive in this reckless manner despite the fact he had occupants in his car,” Ice said.

Defense attorney Chris Chino told the Albuquerque court that his client takes the matter seriously. “Malachi is very aware of the situation he’s in and needs to see this case through,” Chino said.

Chino asked for release with multiple monitoring conditions.

“Drug and alcohol monitoring, Soberlink device, GPS monitoring, house arrest. All of these things can be compounded on top of each other,” said Chino.

Bernalillo County District Court Judge Matthew Chavez rejected the defense request.

“The court can set extremely stringent conditions, but he was already on conditions in the juvenile case and he didn’t follow those conditions,” said Bernalillo County District Court Judge Matthew Chavez.

Velasquez-McCormick faces charges of vehicular homicide, aggravated DWI, reckless driving, and having an open container. He was 18 years old at the time of the incident.

Pretrial detention hearings determine whether a defendant poses a safety risk to the public. Judges review previous compliance with probation orders when evaluating release requests. Severe traffic cases involving fatal collisions often prompt state requests for detention.

Velasquez-McCormick will remain held in custody without bond. The Albuquerque defendant awaits further court proceedings.