Hit-and-run still being investigated

CLOVIS — More than three months after a 68-year-old Clovis woman was killed while walking in the 2900 block of Thornton Street, the case remains under investigation.

District Attorney Andrea Reeb said Tuesday she expects her office to make a decision on whether criminal charges will be filed in “a couple of weeks.”

Reeb said prosecutors received details of the case from police investigators four or five weeks ago. Now her investigators are doing followup interviews.

Officials have said a 16-year-old boy was driving on Thornton when his pickup hit Martha Castillo. She died at the scene.

Evidence shows the boy and a passenger in the pickup left the scene initially but returned about four minutes later.

“I am comfortable he did not ‘leave the scene,’” Reeb said. “I can see on video he came back. This comes down to whether he was careless, or was this just an accident. We’re focusing on the driving part. Was he inattentive? Did he not see her?”

Reeb said the juvenile “appeared to not have any knowledge” that Castillo had been killed until a DA investigator told him last week. “He got very emotional when they told him,” Reeb said.

Reeb said evidence shows the boy was not using his phone when the incident occurred. She said it happened after dark, but it’s not clear whether he should have been able to see someone walking in the street.