Brandon Rafool has pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of a crash that killed a motorcycle passenger in Albuquerque last August, admitting he fled after striking the bike with his black truck near San Pedro Drive and Menaul Boulevard. The passenger, 37-year-old mother Kaitlin Reese, died from the crash, while the motorcycle's driver was injured.
According to KRQE, Albuquerque Police were called to the San Pedro and Menaul intersection for the crash in August 2025. Rafool was behind the wheel of the black truck that hit the motorcycle, then took off, the outlet reported, leaving Reese dead and the motorcycle's driver injured at the scene.
License Plate Readers and a Tip Cracked the Case
Investigators leaned on technology and a public tip to track Rafool down. License plate readers picked up his truck as he drove southbound along San Pedro, according to the same report, giving police a trail to follow in the hours after the crash.
That trail, combined with a tip about the truck and Rafool's whereabouts, ultimately led authorities to his arrest, the station's report states. Rafool has now pleaded guilty to charges of leaving the scene of an accident and tampering with evidence; he will be sentenced at a later date, per the same account.
He Was Already on Probation for a 2024 Shooting
This isn't Rafool's first brush with serious criminal charges. He was convicted in 2024 of assaulting two people who were making repairs at an Albuquerque car wash, as KRQE reported separately. A court sentenced him to six and a half years in that case but allowed him to serve the term on probation — meaning he was still under court supervision when the fatal hit-and-run occurred.
Part of a Statewide Pattern of Road Deaths
Reese's death adds to a sobering tally across New Mexico. The state reported 454 traffic fatalities in 2025, roughly a 2% increase from the 445 recorded in 2024, according to the Albuquerque Journal. Bernalillo County, home to Albuquerque, led all counties with 113 traffic deaths that year, the newspaper reported.
Not every category moved in the same direction. The Journal also noted that alcohol-related traffic deaths statewide fell 27.5% to 129 in 2025 from 178 the year before, while pedestrian deaths dropped 14.7% to 87 from 102 — even as overall fatalities ticked upward.
For now, the central facts of Reese's case remain what prosecutors have put on the record: a fatal crash, a driver who fled, and a guilty plea to leaving the scene and tampering with evidence. A sentencing date has not yet been announced.
