Prosecutors move to keep murder suspect in jail until trial

SANTA FE, N.M. – A handful of crimes in three different New Mexico cities has one suspect back behind bars.

Las Cruces officers tracked down Zachary Babitz over the weekend, and prosecutors are moving to keep him off our streets.

Babitz’s criminal history in New Mexico starts with a robbery at an Old Town Starbucks in 2018. 

Days later, officers arrested him after they found meth in his car during a down-and-out call. They found out Babitz was violating parole in California for a previous carjacking.

The state prison system released Babitz in March. He had served roughly five years, in accordance with a plea agreement that prosecutors and his attorney reached for the robbery charges and other related crimes. Santa Fe’s police chief criticized the plea deal. 

“The bottom line for us is he never should’ve been let out. This is someone who never should’ve been let out on the streets,” said Santa Fe Police Chief Paul Joye. “He’s done nothing but reek havoc since getting out.

According to police, it took Babitz four months to reoffend, starting with a bank robbery in Albuquerque in late July.

A day later, Babitz cut off his ankle monitor and traveled to Santa Fe, where he’s accused of killing 83-year-old Gordon Wilson in a Best Buy parking lot.

Investigators say Babitz stole the elderly man’s car to continue his crime spree. That sparked a statewide manhunt.

“Our agency, state police, Albuquerque, Bernalillo County, I think Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office. I think every agency was very dedicated in trying to identify and find Mr. Babitz and bring him in,” said Joye. 

Officers in Las Cruces found Babitz over the weekend after they say he robbed an Arby’s and carjacked another woman. 

“We’re very pleased that he’s off the streets, we’re happy that nobody else has gotten hurt,” Joye said. 

Joye says information sharing between agencies was crucial over the past week. 

“It’s been an around the clock operation on this case,” said Joye. 

From his perspective, this operation shouldn’t have had to start in the first place. 

“The frustration on our personnel as well when we have these people that are repeat offenders, that the law enforcement has done its part. Law enforcement has made the arrest, they put the case together and these guys are still getting out,” Joye said. 

Santa Fe District Attorney Mary Carmack Altwies shared in his frustration in a statement Monday, saying this is the type of case that proves in the worst ways crime is not only a severe problem in Albuquerque.

She says this case, coming weeks after another suspect killed an innocent person at a Santa Fe Sonic, compounds our city and state’s unacceptable crime problem.

“I hope there’s conversations being had. I hope this is being looked at and discussed to make sure something like this doesn’t happen again,” said Joye. 

Santa Fe prosecutors filed to keep him in jail until trial.

CORRECTION: This story originally contained an inaccurate description of former Judge Daniel Gallegos’ sentence for the plea deal that landed Zachary Babitz in prison. In Babitz’s plea agreement, New Mexico court rules required the judge to accept “a guaranteed, specific sentence” that was agreed upon by both sides. Babitz’s plea agreement specified the length of the sentence, whether prison time for each count would be stacked, and whether the robberies would be considered “serious violent offenses”.

Because the robberies were not serious violent offenses, state law allowed Babitz to earn “good time” in prison at a rate of 1:1. This effectively halved the time he’d spend in prison. That explains how a 10-year sentence becomes five years in prison. Those rules are standard for every prisoner. Serious violent offenses require prisoners to serve roughly 85% of a sentence.

In other words, former Judge Gallegos did not have leeway under state law to change the sentence. The option available to Judge Gallegos would have been to either accept the plea and the sentence that prosecutors and Babitz’s attorney agreed to, or to reject it outright. Considering that, KOB felt it was inaccurate to say that Judge Gallegos “knocked down a 23-year sentence to five years with parole and probation.” That language has been removed from this story.