NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – A man charged with driving drunk and killing someone while crossing a raging river of a burn scar near Mora in 2022 has been acquitted of those charges by a jury. John Vasquez, 30, was driving a pick-up truck on highway 343 near mile marker 7 from Mora heading north towards Guadalupita on August 7, 2022.
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Vasquez told officers he and his friend Benjamin Torres who was also in the truck had a few beers prior. As Vasquez attempted to drive through the floodwaters, he said the back end of the truck began drifting sideways.
With the current growing stronger, the truck went into a nearby ditch flipping over and submerging into the flood waters taking Torres’ life. Vasquez was charged with homicide by vehicle.
A Mora County jury this week found Vasquez not guilty of all charges.
