A man was killed on a bike. Police say 3 boys, 2 charged with murder, planned to hit him.
A man was killed on a bike. Police say 3 boys, 2 charged with murder, planned to hit him. Tips began to come in early this year about a recording taken by those inside the vehicle, including a 15-year-old, a 13-year-old, and an 11-year-old.
Two teenage boys in New Mexico are being charged, and an 11 year-old could face the same fate, after police say they drove a stolen car, intentionally hit and killed a bicyclist and shared a video of the killing on social media.
The victim, 63-year-old Scott Dwight Habermehl, was killed on May 29, 2024. He was riding his bike to work at Sandia National Laboratory around 4:40 a.m. that day when a driver hit him and drove away, the Albuquerque Police Department said in a news release.
The police department's Fatal Crash Team investigated the crash and authorities shared an image of the car from a nearby church, but they were unable to figure out who had been in the car, police said.
Tips began to come in early this year about a video recording of the crash taken by those driving and riding in the vehicle, including a 13-year-old, a 15-year-old, and an 11-year-old boy, police said.
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13-year-old, 15-year-old face charges, while the 11-year-old could be charged as well
Detectives have since arrested and charged the 13-year-old with 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. He will be booked into the Juvenile Detention Center.
Detectives are still searching for the 15-year-old, who is facing the same charges as the 13-year-old. They are also working to locate the 11-year-old, police said.
The 11-year-old boy is too young to be charged with murder, police said. Detectives are working with the district attorney's office and the Children, Youth & Families Department to figure out if he can be charged and if so, with what.
'Just bump him … Go like…15, 20': Video of the crash was posted online
According to police, the department's Fatal Crash team investigated the crash but they were not able to figure out who had been in the vehicle that killed Habermehl.
In February, an anonymous tipster contacted police and told them a video taken from inside the vehicle during the crash had been shared online. The tipster gave police the Instagram handle and the name of the account's owner.
The account had been flagged in a separate investigation as well, police said. A student also reported the video to a middle school principal working for Albuquerque Public Schools.
According to police, investigators had previously seized phones from the 11-year-old and the 13-year-old in June 2024 as part of a separate investigation. They secured warrants to search the phones and the juveniles' social media accounts and found multiple video clips showing the 15-year-old, the 13-year-old and the 11-year-old, as well as the video of the crash.
The case was turned over to the homicide unit on Feb. 25, police said.
Police believe the 13-year-old was driving the vehicle, the 11-year-old was in the front passenger seat and the 15-year-old was in the back seat.
The video captured a conversation among the boys, and the 13-year-old can be heard saying he was about to hit Habermehl. The vehicle then accelerates, police said.
The 15-year-old, sitting in the back, warned the 13-year-old not to drive too fast when hitting the bicyclist, police said.
Police said the rest of the conversation went like this:
15-year-old: 'Just bump him, brah.'
13-year-old: 'Like bump him?'
15-year-old: 'Yeah, just bump him. Go like…15, 20.'
As the vehicle approached an intersection, the 11-year-old was waving a handgun, ducked, and laughed as his side of the vehicle hit Habermehl. Also heard in the video were the sounds of metal flexing as Habermehl and his bicycle were sent over and off the passenger side of the vehicle, police shared in the news release.
"The boys videotaped the crash from inside the car as the driver swerved ... onto a dedicated bike lane and struck Habermehl," police 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."
Man killed in crash involving teens was an avid bicyclist
Habermehl lived in Corrales, New Mexico, and had been on his morning bicycle commute when he died, according to his online obituary.
He studied physics at Iowa State University, worked in Florida, then Virginia, and went to North Carolina State University to earn his doctorate in physics in 1994, the obituary read. According to colleagues, he was dedicated to science and technology and had a strong attention to detail.
He spent time riding horses with his wife, growing his wildflower garden, playing baseball with his dons, hiking and skiing, his obituary read.
BikeABQ, a nonprofit that has pushed for safer and more accessible bicycling in Albuquerque, shared the news of Habermehl's death in July 2024. The nonprofit said that over the past three decades, he biked more than 250,000 miles in Albuquerque, according to his family.
'He was a consummate outdoorsman and cared deeply for the wild spaces of the world,' loved ones wrote in his obituary.
Saleen Martin is a reporter on USA TODAY's NOW team. She is from Norfolk, Virginia – the 757. Email her at sdmartin@usatoday.com.
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