Former APD officer gets 3 years in deadly hit-and-run crash

A Bernalillo County judge sentenced former Albuquerque police officer Ezekiel Florez to three years in prison on Wednesday, June 24, 2026, after he pleaded guilty in a fatal hit-and-run crash that killed Daniel Trujillo. The sentence, handed down by Judge Cindy Leos in 2nd Judicial District Court, raises the same blunt question many residents are likely asking: would the punishment look any different if the driver had never worn a badge?

Florez, 30, was riding a motorcycle at high speed in May 2025 on West Central Avenue near Coors Boulevard when he struck Trujillo, 37, as Trujillo crossed the street. Reporting said Florez was traveling about 20 mph over the speed limit, and Trujillo had the right of way at a green light. Krystal Garcia, another off-duty Albuquerque police officer, was riding on the motorcycle with Florez.

Florez later pleaded guilty in May 2026 to knowingly leaving the scene of an accident and tampering with evidence. He initially had been charged with homicide by vehicle, then resigned from the Albuquerque Police Department in July 2025. Garcia was later terminated by APD in September 2025.

Surveillance video and witness accounts added to the case’s weight. Footage showed the crash on Central Avenue, and witnesses said Florez left Trujillo lying in the road before returning about three hours later with Garcia. The sequence turned what might have been viewed as a traffic tragedy into a broader public trust case, with the actions of two off-duty officers under the microscope.

Trujillo’s family had been seeking justice for more than a year after he died weeks after the crash. The sentencing closes one chapter in the case, but it leaves behind the larger question that follows every fatal collision involving law enforcement: whether accountability is measured the same way for officers as it is for everyone else on Albuquerque’s roads.