NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – More than four years after Davina Archuleta was run over and killed while crossing the highway between Española and Abiquiu, the alleged driver, 37-year-old David Garcia, has been charged. Archuleta’s mother, Cecila Garcia, says she feels she is still waiting for justice. Court records Tuesday show David Garcia has been charged with leaving the scene of an accident causing death on August 10, 2018.
Upon hearing this news, Archuleta’s mother says it’s a day she thought would never come. “I honestly didn’t think they wouldn’t do anything. I pray for her. It’s come to the fact that maybe the Lord needed her in heaven – that we needed her here – but I pray every day, and I miss her every day,” said Garcia.
Archuleta’s mother says she still struggles to get the details of her daughter’s passing out of her head. Archuleta was walking to a friend’s house near the Family Dollar on Highway 84 near Abiquiu when she was hit the night of August 10. The self-admitted driver, David Garcia, came forward a few days later. At the time he told deputies he was headed home and stopped after striking what he believed to be a large animal. but he could not see what he had hit and “assumed it was a deer.”
Archuleta’s mother says she is still left with questions as to why it took this long for authorities to charge Garcia. “When it was brand new I bugged and I called and I reached to whoever I could. I talked to the sheriff and they said they were taking care of it and they didn’t do anything until now,” added Garcia.
Archuleta’s mother says she still tries to keep her daughter’s memory alive. A memorial still stands in the place where Archuleta was hit.
The District Attorney’s office says the reason it took more than four years to charge David Garcia was that it took that long for discovery and gathering of evidence, but they wouldn’t give specifics. Archuleta’s mother says they were doing road construction at the time of the crash and the crash scene wasn’t well preserved with construction crews paving over the area where it happened the next day.
