Teens hear peers' DWI admissions

BELEN, N.M. (KRQE) - Belen High School seniors watched a fellow teenager sentenced for drunken driving Wednesday and got an earful from a young man whose drinking led to the death of his best friend.

The Belen high school auditorium was transformed into the courtroom of Magistrate Judge Danny Hawkes.

"Never did I think this could happen to me. I was just a teenager having fun," Chantel Moya said before being sentenced. "So be warned. If you drink and drive, think twice because you could end up where I am or even worse, killing someone else or yourself."

Moya spent a night in jail, and she'll spend another one. Hawkins also ordered her to install an ignition-interlock device on her car.

The only reason he showed her leniency is because she's now trying to help others.

The most powerful message of the day came from Carlos Ortíz.

He was just 19 years old and about to leave for the Air Force when everything changed.

"I fell asleep at the wheel," Ortíz said. "We rolled four times. I was lucky enough to survive; my best friend didn't. He was like a brother to me."

The two had been partying with friends in Las Vegas and were headed home to Albuquerque. Ortiz's blood alcohol level was 0.06, below the legal limit for presumed intoxicatin.

But, he said, make no mistake about it.

"I have no doubt that is the reason I fell asleep at the wheel," he said. "I almost lost my leg; I almost lost my life.

"My seatbelt tore my small intestine in half. My friend had a brain injury. I had to learn to walk all over again. I didn't get to go to my best friend's funeral. I didn't get to say good-bye."

And Ortíz was charged with vehicular homicide.

Hawkes started the courts-to-schools program in 2005 and said since then they haven't had any fatal DWI crashes in the area involving teens.

He hopes to keep it that way.