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Jury convicts 20-year-old in 2020 skate park killing
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A jury has convicted Cesar Lozano Chavez of second-degree murder in the 2020 hit-and-run death of a man at an Albuquerque skate park, court records show.
The 2nd Judicial District Court jury on Friday found Chavez, 20, not guilty of first-degree murder in the death of 27-year-old Davon Frydrych, who was fatally struck by a vehicle Aug. 2, 2020.
Jurors also acquitted Chavez on two counts of aggravated assault for allegedly pointing a knife at two people the same evening. District Judge Cindy Leos has not scheduled a sentencing hearing.
Albuquerque police responded about 11:45 p.m. to Los Altos Skate Park, near Lomas and Eubank NE, and found Frydrych injured in a parking area, according to a complaint filed in Metropolitan Court. Frydrych died in a hospital the next day.
Witnesses told detectives that Chavez had been drinking at the skate park before fighting and threatening others with a knife, the complaint said.
One witness described Frydrych as a skate park regular who would “try to keep peace,” and helped break up the fight. Frydrych then walked Chavez to his vehicle where the two “shook hands,” it said.
Prosecutors alleged that Chavez, who was 17 at the time, then got into a fist fight that was broken up by Frydrych, according to a pretrial detention motion.
Chavez got into his car and drove at Frydrych, the motion said. Chavez missed Frydrych, but then turned around and struck Frydrych, it said.
A detective went to Chavez’s home and seized his vehicle, but Chavez was not arrested at the time, the criminal complaint said. Chavez was later arrested in December 2020 in the Salt Lake City area, it said.
