A local man was sentenced to a maximum of 18 years in prison for multiple charges for taking the lives of two UNM students and harming two others.
Last week’s sentence stemmed from Joshua Leal’s role in the November 2014 car crash that took the lives of UNM students Briana Hillard and Matthew Grant, and put seniors Joseph Mendoza and Julia Thompson in the hospital.
According to the District Attorney’s office, a plea agreement would put Leal in prison for a minimum of 12 years, with the remaining six at the discretion of the court. However, Judge Brett Loveless, who presided over the sentencing, imposed the full 18 years in the Department of Corrections.
Mendoza, Hillard’s boyfriend and one of the crash survivors, said he believes justice has not been fully served.
“In a sense, yes, and in a sense, no. I mean, did they put a man behind bars? Yes, they did what they were supposed to do. Was it necessarily for as long as it should’ve been? No, I don’t think so,” he said.
Given the circumstances, Mendoza said he believes New Mexico should have harsher penalties for taking someone’s life and that it is bothersome that two lives are only worth 18 years.
“The standards for that are pretty low, I feel like,” he said. “It’s kind of saddening.”
Myron Grant, Matthew’s father, said although the sentence is the maximum, it is not enough.
“He took the entire life, rest of the life, away from Matthew and Briana and yet he only has to serve a portion of his life to repay that,” he said.
Matthew’s mother, Linda Grant said Leal apologized to the victims’ families, which brought some solace.
Now that the case is over, Myron Grant said a chapter of the ordeal is closed, especially now that they don’t have to think about Joshua Leal any longer.
“It did bring a closure to that particular portion,” he said. “Obviously, there is always, even though it’s not possible, that hope that sometime you will get to talk to your son again.”
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Linda Grant said being in and out of court so often lately has made it difficult for them to properly grieve Matthew’s life.
“Now we can start thinking about those good times, the sweet memories, and not have this hanging over us,” she said.
Michael Hillard, Briana’s father, said as far as closure, the case’s end has mixed results for him and his wife.
“It doesn’t alleviate your sadness, but it brings this part of the story to a close.”
Marina Hillard, Briana’s mother, said she feels like she can’t truly get closure.
“Because, the only justice, in my mind, is if someone could bring my daughter back. That’s not possible,” she said.
As far as forgiveness for Leal, Hillard and his wife see it differently than others might.
“Forgiving, I think, is for us. It’s not really for the other person, you forgive people, it’s for your own soul. It’s for your own inner peacefulness as a person,” he said. “I lose nothing and gain everything by forgiving.”
When something like this happens, he said, a person is justified in having all kinds of responses, responses that are going to change from one day to the next.
“If something bad happens and I’m angry, my gaze is turned from the person that has been lost, to other people,” he said. “To feel angry is a heavy experience and it’s a destructive experience, and we’ve had enough destructive experiences.”
Hillard said he hopes Leal can get his life together and doesn’t believe Leal is an evil individual, but rather an error-prone person.
Now that the case is settled, Hillard said what his family needs is to remember the good times and be grateful to have had those years spent with Briana.
“Remember the Christmases and Halloween parties and the smiles,” he said. “Be grateful, gratitude cannot be overrated. We have to be grateful.”
After all is said and done, Linda Grant said she hopes Leal turns his life around from this point on.
“Joshua, you’ve got 18 years now to think about how you’re going to make changes in your life,” she said. “You took two tremendous lives out of the world. Do something to replace those lives. Do something within yourself, that you contribute to society when you get out.”
On the night of Nov. 21, 2014, Leal crashed a stolen pick-up truck in the car that contained Hillard, Grant, Mendoza and Thompson. Hillard died at the scene and Grant later at the hospital. Drug tests confirmed that Leal had meth in his system at the time of the crash.
Matthew Reisen is the news editor at the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at news@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @DailyLobo.
