The 18-year-old suspect in the shooting death of a teenager in late June went before a judge Sunday and did not flinch as the judge read the slew of charges against him.
Donovan Maez crossed his arms and tilted his head as Metropolitan Court Judge Michelle Castillo Dowler told him he was facing life in prison, in addition to a number of other potential several-year sentences, at his first felony appearance.
At Sunday’s hearing, Judge Castillo Dowler imposed a $250,000 cash-only bond.
Maez is being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center facing charges including an open count of murder, child abuse resulting in great bodily harm or death, three counts of child abuse, assault with intent to commit a violent felony, 10 counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, shooting at or from a motor vehicle and conspiracy to commit a first- or second-degree felony. Maez did not say much apart from “yes, ma’am” and “no, ma’am” during the hearing, though he did ask the judge if he was being charged with murder or accused of murder.
“It’s the same thing, sir,” Castillo Dowler said.
Maez is accused of shooting indiscriminately from a vehicle through the bay window of a home in the Northeast Heights on June 26, where a group of teens were gathered for a party. One bullet struck and killed 17-year-old Jaydon Chavez-Silver, who would have started his senior year at Manzano High School this year.
Police believe Chavez-Silver, a “great kid” by all accounts, was in the wrong place at the wrong time, police spokesman Simon Drobik said previously.
A criminal complaint filed Saturday by an Albuquerque police detective did not detail any physical evidence connecting Maez to the shooting but put forth two possible motives behind the shooting, including Maez having lost a fight a month earlier at the house and that a young man at the home owed Maez’s friend $500 for drugs.
Court records show that Maez has had a few other run-ins with the law. According to an older criminal complaint, one of Maez’s family members called police and told them she was worried because Maez had been breaking into cars and was addicted to methamphetamine.
In June, he was arrested after police said he broke into a house in Northeast Albuquerque with another young man. Maez later told police he broke into the house to steal property to sell for money to buy drugs, according to a criminal complaint.
In July, police obtained an arrest warrant for Maez after they said he broke into a car parked in front of a house.
He was arrested on the two warrants and the homicide case charges Saturday.
Maez is the son of state Rep. Stephanie Maez, D-Albuquerque.
