• Jagjeet Singh is charged with fatally running over a woman walking on Interstate 40 near Gallup with her infant • Although the woman’s unnamed infant also died, a judge dismissed a charge of knowingly leaving the scene of a crash for the infant’s death • Singh will continue to live in Indiana pending trial
GALLUP, N.M. — A truck driver from Indiana will be confined to his home state, except to pick up his semi-trailer, after he was arraigned on April 26, 2021, for allegedly fatally running over a woman and her infant on Interstate 40 near Gallup.
Jagjeet Singh
Jagjeet Singh, 24, of Indianapolis, pleaded not guilty during his virtual arraignment to one charge of knowingly leaving the scene of an accident causing death, two counts of possession of a controlled substance and one count of possession of drug paraphernalia, through a Punjabi interpreter.
State Police Agent Larry Reuter wrote in a statement of probable cause that Singh ran over Jessica Ann Copey, 24, of Tohlakai, and her unnamed infant as she walked on Interstate 40 on Jan. 19, 2021.
Reuter initially charged Singh with two counts of knowingly leaving the scene of an accident, Casados dismissed one count, specifically for killing the unnamed infant.
According to the audio log from the arraignment, District Judge Robert Aragon allowed Singh to keep the conditions of his release originally imposed in the magistrate case.
Gallup Magistrate Judge Virginia Yazzie initially released Singh on an unsecured $100,000 bond after he was initially arrested and ordered he wear a GPS bracelet. Casados removed that condition and he was ordered to check in with his “compliance team” once a week.
He is allowed to drive throughout the state of Indiana and also is allowed to go back to New Mexico to pick up his semi-trailer and drive it back to Indiana.
A pre-trial conference is set for Aug. 2, 2021, followed by a tentative jury trial for Sept. 14, 2021.
Reuter wrote he read Singh his Miranda rights but made no mention of them in any language other than English or that Singh had, or did not have, trouble understanding him.
Singh allegedly told Reuter he knew he hit someone who had long, white hair, Reuter wrote.
“Jagjeet confirmed he had observed the person walking from North side of the median and walking Southbound across the highway,” Reuter wrote. “Jagjeet told me he took the exit at mile marker 16, stopped and looked in his mirror but could not see anyone in his mirror. Jagjeet never called the police and did not stop to look for the person he hit.”
• A judge dismissed one of the two counts of knowingly leaving the scene of a crash causing death • Jagjeet Singh does not have a case in district court yet, even though he was bound over on March 4, 2021 • SP Agent Larry Reuter said in court documents that Singh admitted to running over Jessica Ann Copey and her infant child on Jan. 19, 202
GALLUP, N.M. — A magistrate judge bound over an Indiana man on a single charge of leaving the scene of an accident causing death, as well as drug charges, for allegedly running over a woman and her infant near Gallup and then fleeing the scene.
Los Alamos Magistrate Judge Pat Casados bound over Jagjeet Singh, 24, of Indianapolis, to district court on additional charges of possession of a controlled substance: methamphetamine, possession of a controlled substance: heroin and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Singh is charged for allegedly killing Jessica Ann Copey, 24, of Tohlakai, and her unnamed infant on Jan. 19, 2021 in a hit-and-run on Interstate 40, west of Gallup
Singh has neither been arraigned in district court, nor has a district court case been created, as of March 20, according to district court records.
Casados’ order does not say why she did not find probable cause for the second count of knowingly leaving the scene of an accident causing death, which carries a maximum sentence of six years.
The two drug possession charges appear in the court record as “IMPROPER STATUTORY CITATION,” including in Casados’ order.
If convicted on all the remaining charges, Singh could face a maximum sentence of nine years, if he received the maximum on each and the sentences were ordered to be served consecutively, or one after the other.
Singh is living with his family in Indiana. He had been ordered to wear a GPS ankle bracelet but the monitoring company ran out and the defense, with the prosecution’s assent, requested he only be required to call his pre-trial monitors once a week, which Casados granted.
State Police Agent Larry Reuter charged Singh a day after a State Police officer found the bodies of Copey and her infant in the median. The infant was in a car seat, State Police Officer Dusty Francisco wrote in a press release. McKinley County Sheriff’s deputies had been alerted shortly before to a woman walking on the interstate.
Reuter wrote in an amended statement of probable cause for Singh’s arrest that Singh admitted to hitting someone, after Reuter read him his Miranda rights. Singh has requested an interpreter for his court case and Reuter made no mention of reading him his Miranda rights in any language other than English or that Singh had, or did not have, trouble understanding him. Miranda rights are supposed to be knowingly and intelligently waived.
When State Police officers searched his truck, they found heroin and methamphetamine, Reuter wrote.
Charges: One count of leaving the scene of an accident resulting in great bodily injury or death, one count of possession of a controlled substance: heroin, one count of possession of a controlled substance: methamphetamine and one count of possession of drug paraphernalia; an additional count of leaving the scene of an accident resulting in great bodily injury or death was dismissed by a judge in magistrate court.
On Jan. 19, 2021, truck driver Jagjeet Singh, 24, of Indianapolis, allegedly ran over Jessica Ann Copey, 24, of Tohlakai, and her infant who was in a car seat, as she walked on I-40, then parked at a truck stop until police arrested him the next day.
Although an investigators wrote that Singh waived his Miranda rights and admitted to running over someone, he has also requested an interpreter in court proceedings and there is no indication that an interpreter read him his rights. Miranda rights are supposed to be knowingly and intelligently waived.
Magistrate Judge Virginia Yazzie released him on an unsecured $100,000 bond following his first appearance on Jan. 21, 2021. Magistrate Judge Pat Casados dismissed one charge of knowingly leaving the scene of a crash and bound him over to district court following a preliminary examination on March 3, 2021.
He was arraigned in district court virtually on April 26, 2021, and pleaded not guilty to all the charges through a Punjabi interpreter.
On Jan. 19, 2021, around 9:30 p.m., the McKinley County Sheriff’s Office received a call about a woman walking east on Interstate 40, around mile marker 15, west of Gallup. A “short time later,” a State Police officer driving that way saw a large object, a shoe and debris from a vehicle in the road and in the median. A deputy then arrived and they both discovered, in the median, the body of Jessica Ann Copey, 24, of Tohlakai and her infant, also dead, in a car seat, State Police Officer Dusty Francisco wrote in a press release.
Jagjeet Singh
Investigators “learned” that Copey was carrying her child in the car seat while walking in the left lane of I-40 when he was hit by a tractor-trailer, who did not stop. An attempt to locate the driver was broadcast to state and local law enforcement agencies. On Jan. 20, 2021, a day later, a McKinley County Sheriff’s deputy located a tractor-trailer with heavy front-end damage parked at the Flying J’s Truck Stop nears Jamestown, Francisco wrote.
In an amended statement of probable cause for Jagjeet Singh’s arrest, State Police Agent Larry Reuter wrote that state police officers recovered a blue bumper and a headlight where Copey and the child were killed. Singh, 24, is from Indianapolis, Indiana.
Reuter wrote that State Police arrives “arrived” at the truck stop and saw Singh’s vehicle, which was missing the bumper and headlight, which matched those found on the interstate. Jagjeet Singh and his passenger, Gurcharan Singh, were “detained” and brought to the State Police office in Gallup.
Gurcharan Singh told Reuter that he received a call from Jagjeet Singh at 12:10 a.m., Jan. 20, that he hit a deer and he needed help to replace his headlight. Gurcharan Singh was headed west on I-40 and stopped at the gas station, Reuter wrote.
“Gurcharan told me he was not told anything about Jagjeet hitting a person,” Reuter wrote.
Reuter wrote that he then interrogated Jagjeet Singh, after reading him his Miranda rights. Reuter made no mention of reading him his Miranda rights in any language other than English or that Jagjeet Singh had, or did not have, trouble understanding him.
Jagjeet Singh allegedly told Reuter he knew he hit someone who had long, white hair, Reuter wrote.
“Jagjeet confirmed he had observed the person walking from North side of the median and walking Southbound across the highway,” Reuter wrote. “Jagjeet told me he took the exit at mile marker 16, stopped and looked in his mirror but could not see anyone in his mirror. Jagjeet never called the police and did not stop to look for the person he hit.”
Jagjeet Singh allegedly told Reuter he called his cousin who asked why someone would be walking in the road and suggested he hit an animal instead. He drove to the truck stop, where he stayed until he was arrested, Reuter wrote. The cousin is not identified in court documents.
“Jagjeet drew a diagram of where his CVE was positioned when he struck the female,” Reuter wrote. “Jagjeet could not give an answer why he did not call the police or attempt to render aid to the victims he hit.”
When agents searched Jagjeet Singh’s tractor-trailer, they found two bags of a brown powder-like substance weighing 34.8 grams and a white crystalline substance weighing 5.6 grams. The drugs were tested, and came back as heroin and methamphetamine although Reuter did not write what kind of test was conducted, by whom or the presumed accuracy.
Magistrate Judge Virginia Yazzie initially released Jagjeet Singh on a $100,000 unsecured bond at his first appearance on Jan. 21, 2021. He is set to be arraigned on the amended criminal complaint, which added the drug charges, on Feb. 2, 2021, in front of Magistrate Judge Pat Casados. An interpreter is scheduled for that hearing, according to the docket.
On March 4, 2021, following a preliminary hearing, Casados bound over Jagjeet Singh on one count each of leaving the scene of an accident resulting in great bodily injury or death, possession of a controlled substance: heroin, possession of a controlled substance: methamphetamine and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Casados dismissed one count of leaving the scene of an accident resulting in great bodily injury or death, according to her order.
On March 22, prosecutors filed a criminal complaint against Singh in Gallup District Court, after Casados bound him over.
He was arraigned virtually on April 26, 2021, and pleaded not guilty to all the charges through a Punjabi interpreter.
He is allowed to drive throughout the state of Indiana and also is allowed to go back to New Mexico to pick up his semi-trailer and drive it back to Indiana.
A pre-trial conference is set for Aug. 2, 2021, followed by a tentative jury trial for Sept. 14, 2021.
VADO, N.M. —State Police are looking for the driver of a 1998 tan Chevrolet S-10 truck after the driver allegedly crashed into a motorcyclist, killing him, on May 14, and then fled the scene in Vado, south of Las Cruces.
State Police are looking for the driver of a 1998 Chevy S-10 truck, similar to the one pictured here.
Lt. Mark Soriano wrote in a press release the rider, Guy Hanslin, 54, of Mesquiete, died at the scene, at 10581 Los Alturas Street.
“The initial investigation shows a black 2012 Harley Davidson was traveling north on Las Alturas Street,” Soriano wrote. “The driver of a tan 1998 Chevrolet S-10 truck was traveling south on Las Alturas, and for reason unknown turned left striking the Harley Davidson head-on.”
Officers found the truck abandoned at a house in Mesquiete, but are still looking for the driver, he wrote.
Soriano wrote that anyone with information should call State Police at 575-382-2500, option 1.
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ARTESIA, N.M. —State Police are asking for the public’s help to identify the person and vehicle that hit and killed a 39-year-old Roswell man on April 11, 2020 on U.S. Highway 82 outside of Artesia.
“Berdoza was transported to Artesia General Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced deceased by the Office of the Medical Investigator,” he wrote.
Berdoza, of Roswell, was walking on the side of the highway when he was hit by the vehicle, which then fled the scene, he wrote.
“If you were a witness or have any information about this crash, you are urged to call the New Mexico State Police at (575) 382-2500 option 1 and tell the dispatcher you have information related to the U.S. Highway 82 hit and run,” Wilson wrote.
Location: U.S. Highway 82, near mile post 80, outside Artesia, Eddy County
Magistrate case number: N/A
District case number: N/A
Summary
State Police are asking for the public’s help to identify the person and vehicle that hit and killed a 39-year-old Roswell man on April 11, 2020 on U.S. Highway 82 outside of Artesia.
“Berdoza was transported to Artesia General Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced deceased by the Office of the Medical Investigator,” he wrote.
Berdoza, of Roswell, was walking on the side of the highway when he was hit by the vehicle, which then fled the scene, he wrote.
“If you were a witness or have any information about this crash, you are urged to call the New Mexico State Police at (575) 382-2500 option 1 and tell the dispatcher you have information related to the U.S. Highway 82 hit and run,” Wilson wrote.
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SANTA FE, N.M. — State Police detectives are looking for a 2015 Ford truck, and its driver, which allegedly hit and killed 45-year-old Kevin Poirer around 10 p.m., March 27, 2020, as he walked down Highway 14, near the Santa Fe County Detention Center, which he had just been released from.
Kevin Poirer
The driver of the truck, described as having front end damage and a missing mirror, allegedly fled the scene after hitting Poirer, State Police Officer and spokesman Ray Wilsonwrote in a press release.
The truck hit Poirer near near mile post 43, he wrote.
Wilson spelled Poirer’s last name as “Poirier.”
Although Poirer was transported to St. Vincent’s Hospital, he died from his injuries, he wrote.
“The investigation indicates Poirier (sic) was walking south on Highway 14 and was struck by what investigators believe to be a south bound 2015 Ford Pick-up Truck,” Wilson wrote. “After striking Poirier, (sic) the truck fled the scene. The truck will have front end damage and will be missing a mirror.”
Location: Highway 14, outside Santa Fe County Detention Center, Santa Fe County
Magistrate case number: N/A
District case number: N/A
Summary
Kevin Poirer, 45, of San Diego, was allegedly killed following a hit-and-run near the Santa Fe County Detention Center, on Highway 14, on March 27, 2020, around 10 p.m. State Police are actively seeking the public’s help to find the alleged killer and his or her truck.
The hit and run
According to a press release from Officer and spokesman Ray Wilson,State Police detectives are looking for a 2015 Ford truck, and its driver, which allegedly hit and killed 45-year-old Kevin Poirer around 10 p.m., March 27, 2020, as he walked down Highway 14, near the Santa Fe County Detention Center, which he had just been released from.
Kevin Poirer
The truck fled the scene after hitting Poirer. The truck is described as having front end damage and a missing mirror. The truck hit Poirer near near mile post 43, Wilson wrote.
Wilson spelled Poirer’s last name as “Poirier.”
Although Poirer was transported to St. Vincent’s Hospital, he died from his injuries, he wrote.
“The investigation indicates Poirier (sic) was walking south on Highway 14 and was struck by what investigators believe to be a south bound 2015 Ford Pick-up Truck,” Wilson wrote. “After striking Poirier, (sic) the truck fled the scene. The truck will have front end damage and will be missing a mirror.”
According to a booking sheet from the Santa Fe County Detention Center, Poirer was booked on March 26 at 2:27 p.m. and released the following day, March 27, at 8:25 p.m., before he was hit around 10 p.m. It is not clear, from State Police, when the initial call was received.
Poirer was booked on a failure-to-appear warrant, according to the booking sheet.
According to a court docket, Poirer was initially arrested on a charge of breaking and entering on Dec. 9, 2019.
The Albuquerque Journal reports Poirer allegedly “pried open the doors to a Best Western hotel,” where police found him inside, and he told police he “just wanted to warm up.
Jail staff refused to admit him to the jail because of “severely infected” arm wounds, according to the Albuquerque Journal.
Wilson wrote that anyone with information should call State Police at (505) 841-9256, option 0, and tell the dispatcher they have “information related to the Highway 14 hit and run.”
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State Police officers found 