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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A 12-year-old boy died after being thrown off the back of his friend’s Jeep in the South Valley on Saturday night, according to a spokeswoman for the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office.

Deputy Felicia Romero said a group of eight young people were hanging out near Harrison Middle School after a party on Gun Club SW when they decided to go to the school around 7:30 p.m.

The group decided to drive from one side of the building to the other.

“They couldn’t all fit in the vehicle,” Romero said. “When the vehicle drove off, the 12-year-old boy jumped onto the back of the vehicle.”

Romero said the driver, a 16-year-old boy, was driving between 30 and 40 mph and may have taken a turn. She said deputies don’t think alcohol was a factor.

“We don’t believe the kids had any bad intentions,” she said. “The driver wasn’t aware that the 12-year-old had done this (jumped on the back). The kids were out having fun, and they made a bad decision.”

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Monica Armenta, a spokeswoman for the Albuquerque Public Schools, said the boy did not attend Harrison Middle School, but she didn’t know whether he attended another APS school. BCSO is not identifying him.

BCSO will forward the case to the juvenile division of the District Attorney’s Office, Romero said.