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Man sentenced to 19 years in Coronado Park killing
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A man who admitted driving his pickup into an Albuquerque park and fatally striking 37-year-old Carlos Moody in 2020 was sentenced last week to 19 years in prison.
Jeremy Garcia, 33, was convicted by a jury in November of second-degree murder in Moody’s killing after a confrontation between the two men at Coronado Park, at Third and Interstate 40.
The 2nd Judicial District Court jury also convicted Garcia of aggravated assault for attempting to run over Moody’s mother, who testified at trial that Moody saved her life by pushing her out of the path of Garcia’s vehicle.
However, jurors acquitted Garcia of the more serious charge of first-degree murder in Moody’s killing.
Presiding District Judge Britt Baca-Miller on Tuesday also allowed Garcia to remain at the Metropolitan Detention Center for an additional 90 days before his transfer to the New Mexico Corrections Department.
Garcia is enrolled in a methadone treatment program at MDC and the delay is intended to allow him to taper off the opioid treatment before his transfer to prison, the order said.
Moody’s mother, Bernadette Barela, testified that she and her son were homeless and living at Coronado Park on the day of his death on June 8, 2020.
Coronado Park at that time was the site of Albuquerque’s most visible homeless encampment. City officials closed the park in August 2022, displacing an estimated 120 people camped there.
A prosecutor told jurors in closing arguments that Garcia illegally and recklessly drove his truck into the park in search of Moody.
Garcia’s attorney argued that Garcia feared people chasing his truck and unintentionally struck Moody as he fled the park.
