The New Mexico man who has been accused of murdering a four year old girl in a road rage incident has pleaded not guilty in a court in Albuquerque.
An Albuquerque man who has been arrested and accused of murdering a four year old little girl has pleaded not guilty in this case of apparent road rage in New Mexico. Tony Torrez, 32, was brought before the court on Friday and made his plea against the charges of evidence tampering and assault. The courtroom was packed with family members of the little girl who was killed in the drive by incident.
The court case surrounds a road rage incident that happened on October 20, according to The Washington Post, when there was an apparent dispute between Torrez and the little girl’s father. Apparently, Torrez began pursuing the Garcia family’s pick up truck when an argument erupted over a lane changing situation. Torrez is accused of driving up along side of the Garcia pick up truck and shooting at it. Inside the truck, in the back seat, was four year old Lily Garcia and her seven year old brother. Lily was shot in the head and killed.
Torrez’s lawyers have argued the circumstances of the case but were not prepared to argue in the matter of the bail set. The judge held that Torrez be held without bail after he was previously held on a bail of $650,000. Little Lily’s grandfather had made a tearful plea to the judge not the reduce the bond on Torrez. The grandfather told the judge that he believed Torrez to be a flight risk.
Torrez is defended by public defenders and they have told the court that they expect to vigorously challenge the facts in the case. They said they were not going to elaborate on their defense tactics as their investigation is an ongoing process at the moment. The shooting death of four year old Lily caused a huge outcry and social media platforms lit up with tributes to her soon after the incident.
Law enforcement officials have also told the court that four guns, a bullet proof vest, and substantial quantities of marijuana were discovered in a vehicle that was parked at Torrez’s home. In addition, Torrez also faces counts on federal firearms and drug charges. When Torrez was arrested, law enforcement also found $65,000 in cash.
