LAS CRUCES - Occupants of a car and pickup truck spent several minutes cutting each other off in traffic Friday before a toddler sitting in the backseat of the truck was struck by gunfire, court records show.
On Sunday, after a weekend-long search, police arrested a 24-year-man suspected of being a passenger in the car who shot at the truck. According to an affidavit, the man turned himself in.
Estevan Miguel Jimenez is charged with one count of shooting at or from a motor vehicle resulting in great bodily harm and one count of aggravated assault. Jimenez is also charged with three counts of tampering with evidence. Court records show that Jimenez had just wrapped up a year-long probation sentence for his alleged involvement in another shooting.
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The 3-year-old girl who was shot was flown to an El Paso hospital but has since been released. Court records show the girl was shot once. The bullet traveled through her thighs and shattered her left femur. Hospital staff also suspect she suffered arterial and venous damage.
Road rage on Amador
Both parties in the road rage incident gave their side of the story to police, according to an affidavit written by Las Cruces Police Department Det. Frank Torres. The shooting, which occurred around 4 p.m. Aug. 5, was preceded by several minutes of road rage between the drivers — Jimenez’s girlfriend and the toddler’s father.
Torres’ affidavit suggested two vehicles were involved. The first, a dark blue Honda Civic, was driven by Jimenez's girlfriend. The second, a lifted black Ford pickup truck pulling a trailer, contained the toddler, her 5-year-old sister, and their parents with the girl's father in the driver’s seat.
A surveillance camera in the area picked up the incident first near the Amador Avenue and Miranda Street intersection. The footage shows the Civic traveling west on Amador with the Ford truck close behind. Both vehicles, now side-by-side, come to a stop at the Amador Avenue and Melendres Street intersection before traveling onward.
Jimenez told Torres that’s when things escalated. Jimenez told police that his girlfriend and the girl’s father passed each other multiple times. Jimenez said that at one point the truck veered in front of the Civic, causing the car to clip a curb. Once the incident arrived at the Amador and Valley intersection, Jimenez said his girlfriend got out of her vehicle.
At this point, the Civic was in front of the truck as both vehicles waited for the light to turn green.
According to the affidavit, the girlfriend told police she wanted to exchange insurance because she believed the truck struck her Civic. Instead of a discussion, the truck took off through the intersection, Torres wrote in the affidavit.
The girlfriend said she hopped back in her Civic and gave chase. She pushed through the red light, nearly being struck by a car before catching up to the truck. Once they got close, Jimenez said he fired his gun at the driver’s side. Police found three bullet holes in the truck after the incident; one penetrated the driver’s door where the father was sitting, the other two pierced the back driver’s side door where the two girls were sitting.
At that point, the vehicles separate. The girl’s mother calls 911 to report the shooting, and the father drove the truck to MountainView Regional Medical Center just after 4 p.m.
Boyfriend charged, girlfriend cited
Police released still images of the Civic on Saturday, hoping to generate leads. After seeing the posts about the car online, Jimenez and his girlfriend turned themselves in Sunday afternoon. Jimenez said he didn’t know he’d shot a child and wanted to do the right thing, according to Torres’ affidavit. Jimenez also told Torres that he’d disposed of the gun he’d used in the shooting.
Police cited the girlfriend for two traffic infringements related to the incident, but she was not charged with any felony crimes. The father of the girl has not been charged or cited.
As of the publication of this article, Jimenez remained in jail. He was scheduled to appear before a judge Monday afternoon.
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Justin Garcia covers crime, courts and public safety. He can be reached via email atJEGarcia@lcsun-news.com.
