Albuquerque teens charged in killing of cyclist, taping final moments of crash

On an early May morning, Scott Habermehl was bicycling to work, like he had done countless times. As he pedaled on Moon Street in Northeast Albuquerque, three boys in a car behind him contemplated whether to “bump” Habermehl while recording a video.

The car struck Habermehl, 63, and sped off, leaving the Sandia Labs engineer and father of two to die. In a video shared by police Tuesday, the boys can be heard giggling moments before swerving to hit him as he rode in the bike lane.

The alleged driver, Johnathan Overbay, 13, and Messiah Hayes, 11, both of Albuquerque, have been arrested by police while William Garcia, 15, is still on the loose, Albuquerque Police Department spokesperson Gilbert Gallegos said in a news release.

Overbay and Garcia are each charged with an open count of murder, conspiracy to commit murder, leaving the scene of an accident involving great bodily harm or death and unlawful possession of a handgun.

Overbay will be booked into the Juvenile Detention Center. A $2,500 reward has been offered for information leading to Garcia’s arrest, according to an Albuquerque Metro Crime Stoppers post on Facebook.

Detectives are working with the 2nd Judicial District Attorney’s Office and New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department to determine what charges Hayes may face, he said. Overbay and Garcia’s criminal complaints have been sealed.

“Hayes will be placed in CYFD custody where he will be given an evaluation,” Gallegos said.

Hayes and Overbay were charged in June with a weekslong crime spree that included a smash and grab burglary, shootings and auto theft within days of the May 29 crash that killed Habermehl, according to court records. The case against Overbay was dismissed in August when prosecutors failed to meet court requirements. It is unclear what happened to the charges against Hayes.

In February, Gallegos said, detectives learned video of the crash had been shared over social media and corroborated Overbay and Hayes’ involvement through evidence seized in the prior investigation.

In the cellphone recording shared Tuesday, the teens can be seen driving at night when one asked, “Are you guys recording?” and another teen flashed a gun and pointed it at the camera. In the distance, Habermehl’s flashing bike light can be seen on the right side of the road.

The teens say “Hurry up before he starts turning” and “going to hit him hella fast” as they speed up, according to the video. Then, one teen says, “just bump him bruh” before another chimes in to go 15 or 20 mph. As the car is about to hit Habermehl from behind, the boys can be heard laughing.

George Tapley, Habermehl’s coworker, told the Journal “I truly hope, and this is based off my own experiences, that the full weight of the legal system comes to bear on these individuals.”

Mayor Tim Keller, in a statement, said “It is extremely disturbing that kids not only committed this violence, but callously recorded and shared online.”

“These children have fallen through so many cracks in their short lives—from running away from home and dropping out of school, to cold-blooded killing,” Keller said. “It all points to a desperate need to do more to disrupt generational cycles of trauma and violence, and help heal our communities.”

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said she was “horrified” by the incident.

“This case is an appalling and heartbreaking reminder of the serious juvenile crime crisis we face in New Mexico — and our lack of tools to properly address it,” she said Tuesday in a news release.

Police responded to the crash sometime after 4:40 a.m. on May 29, 2024. Officers found Habermehl fatally injured, and the vehicle involved nowhere in sight.

It wasn’t until February that APD learned about a video from the crash that had been posted to an Instagram account, Gallegos said. The case was turned over to the Homicide Unit on Feb. 25, he said, and detectives learned that a middle school principal told Albuquerque Public Schools police a student reported seeing a video of the crash.

Detectives looked at Overbay’s and the Hayes’ social media accounts and phones they had seized after the alleged crime spree from June 2024. APD’s Digital Intelligence Team then identified video clips showing Garcia, Overbay, Hayes and the video of the crash, Gallegos said.

Detectives believed Overbay was the driver, and the backseat passenger, believed to be Garcia, is the one who said to not hit Habermehl going too fast, Gallegos said. Police said it was Overbay who then asked, “Like bump him?” and “Yeah, just bump him. Go like…15…20,” Garcia replied, according to police.

As the vehicle approached the intersection of Moon and Atkinson, near Constitution, the front passenger — believed to be Hayes, who waved a handgun moments earlier — ducked and laughed as Overbay swerved and hit Habermehl, Gallegos said.

“There were loud sounds, including metal flexing, as the momentum of the crash carried Habermehl and his bicycle on top and off the passenger side of the vehicle,” Gallegos said.

A ghost bike honoring Habermehl was put up at the site of the crash by Duke City Wheelmen in September 2024.

Sometimes new information about a loved one’s death gives families closure, Duke City Wheelmen President Jennifer Buntz said, “but I’m afraid this has made it all much, much worse.”

Habermehl had commuted over 20 miles a day to work before he died.

“He did that every day, rain or shine, and I thought that was really amazing,” said Jane Cudney-Black, Habermebl’s colleague and fellow bicyclist. When she heard that he was hit by a car, she said she was “really infuriated and frustrated.”

“I really feel like putting kids in prison doesn’t solve the problem and not having any punishment doesn’t solve the problem, either,” she said. “I just don’t know what to do.”