Defendant in fatal 2019 Lubbock hit-and-run crash sentenced to four years

Lubbock District Judge William Eichman told Robert Quevedo that he didn't believe the 58-year-old man caused the wreck that killed a motorcyclist three years ago. However, he said he deserved a four-year prison sentence after evidence showed that Quevedo knew he was involved in the wreck, left the scene and tried to hide the damage to his pickup truck.

Eichman handed down the sentence Friday at the end of Quevedo's probation revocation hearing on an unrelated burglary conviction, which started on Thursday in the 364th District Court.

Quevedo was charged with a count of failure to stop and render aid involving a death in the June 29, 2019, wreck in the 1900 block of 19th Street that killed 24-year-old Robert Macias Jr.

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The charge is a second-degree felony that carries a punishment of two to 20 years in prison.

At the time of the crash, Quevedo was on probation for a 2010 burglary of a habitation charge. He faced between two to eight years in prison if his probation was revoked for violating the conditions of his community supervision.

Eichman found at the end of the hearing that Quevedo violated conditions that forbid him from committing a new offense and violating his 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew the night of the crash.

Quevedo is also expected to plead guilty to the failure to stop and render aid charge this week in exchange for a four-year sentence that will run concurrently with the sentence Eichman issued after revoking his probation.

During the hearing, prosecutors presented evidence of a Lubbock police investigation of the wreck to prove that Quevedo violated his probation by committing the offense of failing to stop and render aid.

According to court records, Lubbock police responded to a 12:45 a.m. call about a crash in the 1900 block of 19th Street and found Macias on the road next to his 2001 Suzuki motorcycle. He was taken by ambulance to a hospital where he died.

Witnesses at the scene said Macias rear-ended a pickup truck that left the scene after the crash, according to an arrest warrant.

Investigators believe Macias was speeding and later learned he had a blood-alcohol level twice the legal limit when he rear-ended Quevedo's vehicle.

Crash investigators found at the scene pieces of a taillight from the pickup that was believed to be a 1999-2002 Chevrolet or GMC pickup truck.

Crash investigators found video of the crash caught by a nearby business’s security camera that showed the motorcycle sliding on its side into view and a pickup's brake lights activating briefly before driving away.

A detective found 31 pickup tricks registered in Lubbock that resembled the one involved in the crash. He pared that number down to 13 after going through the LPD license plate reader program.

Registration records of the 13 vehicles were distributed to patrol officers, one of whom found the matching pickup truck on July 2, 2019 in front of a house in the 2300 block of 28th Street.

The truck’s bed was removed and was found in the backyard of the house. Investigators also found the tailgate and a broken tail light near a detached garage, the warrant states.

Investigators found on the tailgate dried blood and an imprint of Macias' motorcycle's handlebar and left side view mirror. Pieces of a taillight found at the scene of the crash perfectly matched the taillight found in the backyard.

Lubbock police Sgt. Jimmy Fair told the court he spoke with Quevedo and recorded a video of the interview, which was played during the hearing.

In the video, Quevedo could be heard telling the officer that he was driving on 19th Street after getting food from a nearby fast food restaurant and felt something hit the back of his truck.

"This guy just came and hit me in the back," Quevedo could be heard saying.

He said he planned to stop but said he continued driving when he didn't see anything behind him.

"I didn't see nothing," Quevedo said. "I just took off."

Quevedo repeatedly told the officer that the crash wasn't his fault but said he felt bad that the motorcyclist that hit him died.

"I have to live with something like that, boss," he said.

Prosecutor Chris Schulte told the court that the evidence that Quevedo committed the offense was overwhelming.

He said Quevedo's interview with the detective showed that Quevedo knew someone crashed into his vehicle and he had a duty to stop to find out if someone was injured. However, when Quevedo drove away and didn't return to the scene, he broke the law.

Defense attorney Jesse Mendez said the evidence showed that his client was guilty of a lesser included offense of a Class C misdemeanor failure to stop and render aid, which would not result in the revocation of his client's probation.

He said he believed the law requires a defendant to know they were involved in an accident in which someone was injured.

Mendez said the crash happened at night and the back window of Quevedo's truck was also dark. He said as soon the the motorcycle struck the pickup truck it skidded out of his client's view.

"For that reason my client continues to take off," he said.

However, Eichman said he believed Quevedo knew that he was in an accident and had an obligation to stop.

"I believe that Mr. Quevedo's actions regarding disassembling the pickup established that he knew that an accident occurred, that he should have stopped," he said.

During the punishment phase of the hearing, Field Bennings, the pastor at The Acts Church, told the court he'd been counseling Quevedo since he was released from jail after his arrest for the crash. He said he believed Quevedo was remorseful about what happened and was sinking into a depression.

Bennings said Quevedo's attitude improved when he began attending his church and had begunn volunteering by offering to do tile work for free or at a steep discount for the church and other congregants.

"He seemed to have more energy, working pretty consistently," he said. "So I saw a big change from the depressed person I first started counseling with."

He asked the court to keep Quevedo on probation, saying he believed Quevedo could continue being a contributing member of society.

Mendez argued that but for his client's involvement in the crash, Quevedo, who did not testify, had done well on probation. He asked the court to consider a sentence on the lower end of the punishment range.

"He was not at fault," Mendez said. "The evidence shows that he was remorseful even though he did not cause the death of this gentleman."

Schulte agreed with Mendez that Quevedo didn't cause the fatal crash but still deserved a sentence in the middle of the punishment range.

"At the end of the day there's a dead body in this case and Mr. Quevedo should be held to account."

Eichman told Quevedo that while he believed he was remorseful, he had to face consequences for violating his probation by committing a new offense and violating his curfew.

"Let this be an example of that," he said.

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Defendant in fatal Lubbock 2019 hit-and-run crash sentenced to prison