Her Last Hit-and-Run Was Fatal. She's Out in Under 3 Years.

A California mother who lost her son in a hit-and-run crash is watching the repeat offender who killed him prepare to walk free years ahead of schedule. Kellie Montalvo says she was stunned to learn that 28-year-old Neomi Velado, sentenced in 2023 to nine years in prison for felony vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and felony hit-and-run, is set for release after serving less than three years, per the Los Angeles Times. A notice from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) informed her that Velado, who struck and killed 21-year-old bicyclist Benjamin Montalvo in Corona in June 2020 while texting, could leave custody as early as this month based on time served and good-conduct and other credits.

Velado, to walk free Saturday, had been at fault in four other crashes, including three in which she was on her phone, before she fled the Corona scene, per the Times. Prosecutors said she'd been drinking and using marijuana, though because she did not immediately surrender, authorities lacked evidence to pursue a DUI charge. A judge at sentencing cited her "callousness" for leaving the victim in the road to die and noted she was later photographed partying in Las Vegas. Prosecutors said she also tried to conceal damage to her vehicle. Montalvo says she was initially told Velado would need to serve at least half of her sentence. A rep at the CDCR has since told her the reduced sentence, under one-third of the original term, came largely through participation in a fire camp program, per KTLA.

Montalvo has appealed to Gov. Gavin Newsom's office, hoping a review will show the credit calculation is wrong; the governor cannot cancel the release but can order CDCR to reexamine the math. "It's a huge slap in the face," Montalvo tells KABC of Velado's coming release. "It isn't enough time to have made a difference in someone that has four hit-and-runs and shows no consciousness of guilt." Meanwhile, Montalvo, now a traffic-safety advocate, is backing new legislation aimed at tightening laws on vehicular killings and repeat impaired drivers. One proposal, SB 907, would classify gross vehicular manslaughter and vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated as violent felonies, limiting sentence reductions to 15%.