On Sept. 5, 2015 an arrest warrant was filed in Hobbs for Leonardo Morales, Jr., 24, after detectives investigated a fatal wreck involving a motorcycle and a vehicle that occurred on Sept. 4, 2015 at Turner and Yeso streets.
Morales turned in front of a motorcycle driven by Joshua Lewis, 26 of Hobbs, causing a collision and the death of Lewis. Morales allegedly fled the scene on foot, according to Hobbs Police Department officials.
Earlier this week, Hobbs Police Department officials learned Morales is currently serving a three-year prison sentence for evading arrest with a vehicle in a Texas state prison in Childress, Texas.
According to Texas Department of Criminal Justice records, Morales was sentenced on Feb. 2, 2017 in Gaines County, Texas for an offense that occurred on Feb. 24, 2015. He went up for a parole hearing in June and was denied. His next review date in Texas is scheduled for April 2018. If he is not granted parole at that time, his maximum sentence would end in November 2019.
Once paroled, or if he serves his entire sentence, he will be extradited back to New Mexico for the warrant issued as a result of the September 2015 incident in Hobbs.
Morales will face charge of accidents involving death or personal injury, a fourth degree felony.