Copyright © 2018 Albuquerque Journal

After a jury found him guilty in the deadly interstate wreck that left a 10-year-old girl dead, Xavier Nelson was sentenced Tuesday to six years in prison.

Prosecutors said Nelson was driving 107 mph when his Subaru slammed into a family’s Dodge near the Montaño exit on Interstate 25. Carmen Esmeralda Rivera Nevarez, a fourth-grader at Lavaland Elementary School, was not wearing a seat belt and was thrown from the Dodge. When their car was hit at around 12:20 a.m., her family had been heading home after picking her mother up from the office building she cleans.

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Her mother, Mayra Nevarez, described Esmeralda as a happy and content girl who had dreams of attending college and was well liked by her teachers.

“Not only did he kill her, (he) killed me, as well,” Nevarez told the judge through a translator. “She was my only daughter. She was my princess.”

In his own statement to the court, Nelson apologized repeatedly and said he couldn’t imagine what Esmeralda’s family was going through.

“No matter what I do, I can’t take it back. But I wish there was some way I could make up for it,” Nelson said through tears. “I feel awful.”

Nelson’s attorney asked the judge for a conditional discharge with the maximum period of probation.

In his testimony at trial, Nelson held that he was driving between 80 mph and 85 mph when the Dodge veered into his lane. But prosecutors said crash data showed his car was traveling 107 mph at the time of the wreck and the driver never applied the brakes. The state argued at trial that Nelson had been racing another car in the moments before the collision, but jurors found him not guilty of street racing. He initially faced a minor drug possession charge, which prosecutors have since dismissed.

Six years is the maximum sentence for vehicular homicide caused by reckless driving. The November 2016 wreck prompted unsuccessful attempts to toughen penalties for the crime.

In addition to imposing the maximum penalty, 2nd Judicial District Judge Stan Whitaker ruled that the crime was a serious violent offense, which means Nelson must serve at least 85 percent of his sentence.

Whitaker said he could not understand why anyone would be driving so fast and that Nelson must be held accountable for his actions.

“We’ve got two families that are suffering because of decisions that were made. Your decision, Mr. Nelson, has created such a substantial ripple effect for so many,” Whitaker said. “And you’re right, it’s too late, you can’t get it back.”