13-Year-Old Charged with Murder in 'Planned' and Filmed Hit-and-Run of Bicyclist That Was Later Posted on Social Media

• Bicyclist Scott Dwight Habermehl was killed in a hit-and-run on May 29, 2024, in Albuquerque, N.M.
• In February, authorities received an anonymous tip that video of the fatal crash was circulating on social media
• On March 17, the Albuquerque Police Department arrested a 13-year-old boy for the alleged murder, the 11-year-old boy is now in the Children, Youth and Families Department’s custody, and the search for the 15-year-old boy is still underway

A 13-year-old was arrested and charged with murder in connection to an alleged deliberate hit-and-run of a bicyclist in Albuquerque, N.M., according to a Monday, March 17 Albuquerque Police Department (APD) press release.

The teen was arrested on Monday, March 17, on several charges connected to Scott Dwight Habermehl’s death on May 29, 2024. Habermehl, a 63-year-old physicist, was killed while he was biking to his job at Sandia National Laboratories.

The 13-year-old was charged with an open count of murder, conspiracy to commit murder, leaving the scene of an accident involving great bodily harm or death and unlawful possession of a handgun by a person.

The APD confirmed in a Tuesday, March 18 press release that the 11-year-old boy who was allegedly involved was taken into the custody of the Children, Youth and Families Department custody, and will be administered an evaluation.

Authorities are still searching for the 15-year-old boy who was allegedly involved in the hit-and-run. The three were allegedly inside a stolen car last year, recorded the accident and the video circulated on social media.

The 13-year-old is believed to be the driver, while the other two were passengers. 

The 15-year-old will be charged with the same crimes as the 13-year-old. The third boy is too young to be charged with murder. However, APD detectives, the District Attorney and the Children, Youth and Families Department (CYFD) are working together “to determine what charges he may face and whether he can be held on those charges,” per the press release.

The 13-year-old will be booked into the Juvenile Detention Center. Children 11 and younger can’t be held at a juvenile detention center. New Mexico courts can try teenagers ages 15 to 18, and sometimes 14, as adults for first-degree murder after a grand jury indictment.

In February, the APD received an “anonymous tip that cell phone video of the crash had been posted on social media,” per the press release. The tip included the identity of the Instagram account and its user.” The account was previously flagged in a different investigation.

The APD Fatal Crash team turned the case over to the Homicide Unit on Tuesday, Feb. 25.

As detectives investigated the Instagram account, a middle school principal reported to Albuquerque Public Schools police that a student reported the same video of the crash.

Detectives secured warrants for the 11- and 13-year-old’s social media accounts and searched their phones. Their phones were previously seized during a separate investigation in June 2024. 

“APD’s Digital Intelligence Team identified several video clips showing the three boys, including the original video of the crash,” per the APD press release. 

That video captured the boys’ conversation as the 13-year-old driver said he was going to hit the bicyclist as he made the vehicle accelerate. 

“The back passenger, believed to be [the 15-year-old], said not to hit the bicyclist going too fast. ‘Just bump him, brah.’ The driver responded, ‘Like bump him?’ [The 15-year-old] repeated, ‘Yeah, just bump him. Go like…15…20,’ ” per the APD press release.

As the vehicle’s front passenger side struck Habermehl, the 11-year-old, who was believed to be the front passenger, was allegedly waving a handgun in the vehicle, ducked and laughed, per the release. The crash’s momentum then allegedly carried Habermehl and his bicycle on top and off the vehicle’s passenger side.

“I am horrified by the video footage of a brazen, heartless killing involving three New Mexico juveniles—ages 11, 13, and 15—who targeted an innocent cyclist,” New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said in a statement Tuesday. “This case is an appalling and heartbreaking reminder of the serious juvenile crime crisis we face in New Mexico––and our lack of tools to properly address it.”

Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE’s free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.          

PEOPLE reached out to the Bernalillo County District Attorney for comment.