Los Alamos Reporter

Los Alamos Police File Charges In Magistrate Court Against Driver In March 15 Death Of Pedestrian

BY MAIRE O’NEILL
maire@losalamosreporter.com

Ernesto Dominic Abeyta, 39, of Manassa, Colorado, has been charged in Los Alamos Magistrate Court with careless driving and failure to yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk in connection with a March 15 crash that caused the death of educator Dr. Brian Easton, 68, of Los Alamos. Abeyta is slated to appear before Judge Catherine Taylor for arraignment June 23. He is represented by local attorney William Snowden.

Documents obtained through an Inspection of Public Records Request to Los Alamos County indicate that several Los Alamos Police Department officers and Los Alamos Fire Department medics responded to the scene at the intersection of North Road and Urban Street following a 911 call from Abeyta. Abeyta, who is a medic, was administering CPR to Dr. Easton. Mr. Abeyta told officers he was traveling eastbound from North Road onto Urban and that he hadn’t seen Dr. Easton. LAFD medics transported Dr. Easton to Los Alamos Medical Center.

Incident reports completed by LAPD state that Mr. Abeyta told them he made a complete stop before turning and did not see Dr. Easton in the crosswalk. The incident was turned over to the LAPD Crash Reconstruction Team and LAPD Investigations.

As part of the investigation into the crash, Det. Sgt. Ryan Wolking noted that he and Det. Cindy Garcia went to the crosswalk at the scene where Det. Garcia walked in the crosswalk as Det. Sgt. Wolking navigated the left turn from North Road to Urban Street many times. with Wolking recording video and images with his body-worn and digital cameras. Wolking’s report indicates that it was possible for him to completely lose sight of Garcia while she was in the crosswalk.

Dr. Easton’s obituary may be viewed at:

https://losalamosreporter.com/2026/04/07/obituary-brian-easton-july-17-1957-mar-17-2026/

A celebration of Brian’s life is set for 1 p.m. – 4 p.m., Saturday, June 27, 2026 at the Unitarian Church of Los Alamos, 1738, N. Sage Loop. Please RSVP to Brian’s sister Pam at chekm8@cox.net prior to June 20, if you are able to attend.