Grand jury indicts Sergio Almanza on 6 charges

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A grand jury has indicted the suspect accused of killing a 7-year-old boy and injuring his father as they were leaving the River of Lights in December.

Albuquerque police believe Sergio Almanza blew through a red light while the Bhattacharya family was crossing Central on a crosswalk.

Investigators believe Almanza hit the family, killing 7-year-old Pronoy, and then he fled.

Almanza was on the run for seven weeks until he finally surrendered last Monday, Jan. 31.

Almanza is now facing six charges:

• Count 1: Homicide by vehicle (driving while under the influence or homicide by vehicle (reckless driving)
• Count 2: Great bodily harm by vehicle (driving while under the influence) or homicide by vehicle (reckless driving)
• Count 3: Knowingly leaving the scene of an accident (great bodily harm or death)
• Count 4: Tampering with evidence
• Count 5: Tampering with evidence
• Count 6: Driving an off-highway motor vehicle on a praved street or highway

KOB 4 recently spoke to Pronoy’s parents, Aditya and Deepshika. They hope anybody who assisted Almanza will also be held accountable.

"Like where he was staying for these 40 days, who assisted him?" Aditya asked. "You know, whose place he was staying at? Who helped him with money, or other things, maybe those people will come forward in the next few days. But we still don’t know what kind of consequences those people will face."

According to the indictment, Almanza will be held without bond. His arraignment is expected to be on Feb. 14. A pretrial detention motion will be filed at a later date.