A man who allegedly opened fire during a road rage clash in New Mexico, which resulted in the death of a 4-year-old girl, pleaded not guilty Friday to murder and other charges.
The girl's grandfather and the prosecutor for the case appealed before the judge to maintain the $650,000 cash-only bond for suspect Tony Torrez, saying that the nature of the shooting, as well as his criminal history, makes him a threat to the community.
Judge Stan Whitaker invoked a seldom-used exception to a state law, wherein judges are banned from denying bail apart from specific cases that involve capital crimes, according to the Associated Press.
Federal authorities charged Torrez on Oct. 29 with infringing laws on firearms and drug trafficking, with agents revealing they found four guns, a bullet-proof vest and large amounts of marijuana in a car connected to the suspect.
Authorities also discovered roughly $64,000 in cash inside Torrez's house and a Lexus that he had been driving when he was arrested on Oct. 21, according to the New York Daily News.
The shooting incident took place on Oct. 21 as 4-year-old Lilly Garcia and her 7-year-old brother had been picked up from school when the suspect, who was driving a Toyota, fired at the family as they were traveling along the main east-west freeway in Albuquerque.
The girl was rushed to the hospital after her father tried to administer basic first aid and nurses tried to save her on the way there. The girl succumbed to her injuries, as HNGN previously reported.
