Court awaits medical report in fatal West Hammond DWI case
Graciela Vasquez stayed jailed Monday as the court awaited a medical report in the West Hammond fatal DWI case. A Sept. 8 status conference was set in Aztec.
Graciela Vasquez remained held in the San Juan County Detention Center after a Monday status conference in the fatal West Hammond crash case, as attorneys waited for a medical report that could affect the next phase of the prosecution. The 53-year-old Farmington woman is charged with second-degree felony homicide by vehicle caused by DWI in the Feb. 1 crash that killed a woman in West Hammond.
Court records show Vasquez’s total bond is set at $0.00, and the San Juan County District Attorney’s Office has also sought pretrial detention, arguing she should stay in custody pending trial. That keeps the case in a pretrial posture before the Eleventh Judicial District Court, where the court is sorting through detention, medical information and the evidence prosecutors say supports the charge.
The affidavit tied to the case says a blood draw taken about two hours after the crash showed a blood alcohol content of 0.14, nearly twice New Mexico’s legal limit of 0.08. It also says investigators found a 375-milliliter bottle of Importers Vodka on the floorboard, about three-quarters full and covered in blood. According to the affidavit, Vasquez told police she and another person identified as Neal had been drinking that day and that she drank “half the Importers Vodka.”
The detention motion also pointed to Vasquez’s criminal history, including three prior DWI charges in Arizona along with burglary, theft and assault cases there. It further cites a 2024 San Juan County conviction for aggravated battery and concealing identity, for which she was still serving 233 days of probation.
Vasquez was booked into the San Juan County Detention Center on April 13, 2026, more than two months after the crash. Gurley set another status conference for 9 a.m. Sept. 8 in his courtroom in Aztec, a date that will keep the case moving through the county court while prosecutors, defense attorneys and the judge wait for the report and the next round of decisions on custody and trial timing.
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