() The attorney for a 13-year-old New Mexico boy who received what some consider a light sentence in the death of a bicyclist says he hopes the teen will be rehabilitated in juvenile detention but conceded there’s no guarantee that will occur.
The boy was 12 when he was at the wheel of a stolen vehicle, joyriding with two friends, when authorities say the group decided to ram cyclist Scott Habermehl, 63, who was killed in the May 2024 incident. Police did not round up the trio of suspects until a video of the deadly prank turned up on social media.
The driver of the stolen vehicle, now 13, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, and a judge ordered him held until he turns 21. Prosecutors said their hands were tied by state juvenile justice laws that have not changed with the times.
Michael Rosenfield, the boy’s attorney, appeared Friday on “Banfield” and offered another side of the story. At the time of the offense, he said, the juvenile was a preteen who could not weigh the consequences of his actions.
“Hopefully, he will get the counseling that he so sorely needs, he’ll get the education that he doesn’t have,” said Rosenfield, who praised the facility where the youth will be living. “He’ll return to society, hopefully better able to cope with some of the issues that he had before he committed this crime.”
Pressed about whether rehabilitation is a certainty, the attorney replied: “We can’t be sure. We can only do the best we can.”
Rosenfield said his juvenile clients share certain traits.
“Almost every one of them comes from a dysfunctional family. A lot of them have no moral compass because they don’t get one at home,” he said. “These are not middle-class children.”
Cases are pending against the two other juveniles who were in the vehicle that fatally struck Habermehl last year.
An 11-year-old who was riding in the passenger seat will be charged with murder when he turns 12 this month but will go through the juvenile justice system, Bernalillo County District Attorney Sam Bregman told “Banfield” this week.
A third juvenile who was in the back seat, now 16, is currently jailed, awaiting trial. Prosecutors have said they will charge him as an adult.
