Isiah Grijalva gets 7 years for killing David MacLaskey while driving drunk
A 19-year-old man who Carlsbad Police said hit and killed a bicyclist in May 2023 while drunk was sentenced to 7 years in prison in a plea deal.
Isiah Grijalva pleaded guilty Jan. 19 to homicide by vehicle while driving intoxicated, a second-degree felony, leaving the scene of an accident, causing great bodily harm or death, and failing to render aid – both fourth-degree felony.
Dismissed in exchange for guilty pleas were five other charges against Grijalva: misdemeanor counts of driving while license revoked, minor in possession of alcohol, resisting, evading or obstructing an officer and driving without insurance.
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A felony charge of tampering with evidence was also dismissed, per the agreement.
Grijalva’s conviction of vehicular homicide carried a 15-year prison sentence, but seven years of that were suspended in the agreement and another 237 days were credited from pre-trial detention, leaving a sentence of 7 years and 4 months.
He also had $22,500 in fines suspended by the court and was ordered to pay $340.
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Following his incarceration, Grijalva will serve two years parole and five years of supervised probation.
A jury trial scheduled for Jan. 16 before Fifth Judicial District Judge Lisa Riley was canceled, and she signed the plea agreement.
Police said Grijalva was driving drunk on May 27, 2023 when he hit and killed 63-year-old David MacLaskey who was riding a bicycle in the 1200 block of West Church Street.
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MacLaskey was found lying in the street in a “puddle of blood,” read the criminal complaint, and was later pronounced dead at the Carlsbad Medical Center.
Witnesses told police Grijalva initially left the scene of the crash, and police said they noticed a hole in his windshield with blood around it when he returned.
Grijalva initially resisted being detained by officers and told them he was dropping of a friend when MacLaskey threw a rock at the car, the complaint read.
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He also admitted to drinking “two beers” that night. A breathalyzer showed Grijalva had a blood alcohol content of 0.09, and a subsequent test registered 0.10.
Both readings were above the New Mexico legal limits of 0.08 BAC for motorists older than 21.
Records show Grijalva was also caught driving drunk May 6, 2023 and also pleaded guilty to a charge of aggravated driving while intoxicated along with a felony charge of battery upon a peace officer related to that incident.
He took a plea deal in that case as well, and had four misdemeanor charges dismissed while being ordered to serve a total of 10 months and 101 days’ incarceration.
Adrian Hedden can be reached at 575-628-5516, achedden@currentargus.com or @AdrianHedden on the social media platform X.
This article originally appeared on Carlsbad Current-Argus: Carlsbad man takes plea deal in drunk driving case that killed one
