Judge Beyer rules alleged hit-and-run driver blamed for teen’s death will remain behind bars

Judge Marci Beyer has decided Oscar Anchondo, the Berino man charged in a deadly hit-and-run, will remain behind bars without bond.

On April 3rd, the Doña Ana County Sheriff’s Department arrested 21-year-old Oscar Anchondo in connection with a hit-and-run that left 16-year-old Beto Romero dead.

Dozens of Romero’s close family members, friends and teammates gathered in a silent protest outside the courtroom before the hearing, honoring Romero’s memory.

“Justice really has to be served,” said Sarah Molina, a friend of Romero’s. “It’s not just one person or one family that’s impacted. It’s the whole community.”

On April 10th, ABC-7 was the only news organization to show the tears, laughter and heartbreak inside the 16-year-old’s funeral. Hundreds, if not thousands of members of the Gadsden community mourned the loss of the straight ‘A’ student and star Gadsden High athlete.

On April 9th, Judge Doug Driggers denied the state’s motion to keep Anchondo behind bars while awaiting trial. Judge Driggers released the suspect on a $5,000 bond.

Just days later, Anchondo was back behind bars after authorities say he violated the terms of his release and left his home without the supervision of his mother.

Judge Doug Driggers is no longer presiding over the case. The case was assigned to Judge Conrad Perea, but Anchondo’s defense team requested a new judge. The case is now in Judge Beyer’s court.

Two top prosecutors in the state are questioning New Mexico’s system of pre-trial detention.

“People who hurt people, kill people, people who do harm to other people with no regard to human dignity need to be incarcerated,” said Doña Ana County’s District Attorney, Mark D’Antonio. “It’s the right of the public to be protected from dangerous people. Right now, that’s not happening.”

“We have examples in both jurisdictions of very dangerous people getting released just to go out and commit the crimes,” said Otero County District Attorney John Sugg. “It’s very frustrating.”

A spokesman for the New Mexico Supreme Court released this statement to ABC-7:

“Judges are just like all other New Mexicans in wanting safe communities. Every judge takes seriously their responsibility to protect public safety when deciding whether a person charged with a crime should be released pending trial. Under the New Mexico Constitution, someone charged with a felony may be held in jail pretrial only if prosecutors prove the person is so dangerous that no release conditions will reasonably protect public safety.

People may disagree over what constitutes dangerousness in any given case. When that happens, the district attorney can appeal a judge’s pretrial detention decision. By any definition, the previous bail system in New Mexico was unsafe. Before bail reform, dangerous defendants could return to the streets if they could afford a money bond.

Under the reforms implemented in New Mexico, pretrial release and detention decisions are based on evidence about the public safety risk posed by a defendant and the risk that a defendant will fail to appear in court for future hearings.”