A California woman, previously convicted for the deadly collision of a 21-year-old cyclist, is set to be released early due to ‘good conduct,’ despite her history of repeated offenses.
In 2020, Neomi Velado, then 28, fatally hit Benjamin Montalvo with her vehicle while he was cycling with friends in Corona. Initially sentenced to nine years in prison in 2023, Velado is now expected to be released on February 14, less than three years into her sentence.
Velado’s convictions include felony vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and felony hit-and-run causing death, according to reports in the LA Times.
The family of Montalvo has expressed deep outrage over the decision to release Velado, particularly because this tragic incident marked her fourth accident caused by phone distraction and her fifth at-fault crash overall. At the time of the collision, Velado was reportedly engrossed in texting her boyfriend.
Montalvo’s family is outraged, especially since their son’s death was Velado’s fourth at-fault crash in which she was distracted by her phone and fifth at-fault crash overall.
Velado was reportedly texting her boyfriend when she struck Benjamin with her car.
During her hearing, the judge said Velado ‘demonstrated callousness of leaving a boy in the street to die.’ She turned herself in the next day.
‘Why do they give a sentence if it’s not going to be enforced?’ his mom, Kellie Montalvo, told ABC7.
Neomi Velado, 28, was convicted for killing a cyclist with her car in her fourth at-fault driving accident
Benjamin Montalvo died in 2020 while riding his bike with friends in Corona, California
Montalvo’s mother, Kellie Montalvo, called the decision ‘a huge slap in the face’
She called the decision ‘a huge slap in the face.’
A spokesperson for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation told the Daily Mail that Velado also received 124 days in credits for previous time served.
‘Persons with a determinate term are sentenced to serve a fixed period of time and after completing that term, are automatically released without a parole hearing,’ they said.
Most non-violent offenders can earn credits for up to 50 percent of their sentence.
Credits can be earned by completing rehabilitative or educational programs or by following the rules.
‘Quite frankly, we don’t give a darn about her good merit credits,’ said Kellie to the Times.
‘Where are Benjamin’s credits? Where are his milestones? She took every milestone that he could have ever achieved when she killed him.’
The family was satisfied wth the sentencing until they got a letter in the mail announcing her Valentine’s Day release.
They appealed to the governor’s office for help, hoping there was an error in calculating Velado’s credits.
Kellie and the rest of the Montalvo family have championed laws in California that promote traffic safety.
Velado served just two and a half years of her nine year sentence. She is set to be released on February 14
The Montalvo family have become advocated for stricter traffic safety laws in California
The family has appealed to the governor, hoping that there was a mistake in Velado’s good merit credits
One in particular would add vehicular manslaughter and vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated to the state’s list of violent felonies and harshen sentences.
Attorneys claimed Valedo had been drinking and smoking marijuana before the crash, but the evidence was gone before she turned herself in.
‘Am I afraid she’s going to re-offend? Absolutely,’ Kellie Montalvo said.
‘It isn’t enough time to have made a difference in someone that has four hit-and-runs and shows no consciousness of guilt.’
The Daily Mail contacted the California Office of Traffic Safety for comment.
