A man has pleaded guilty to a crash that killed two people near Broomfield School

Drunk driver who courted a mother and her teenage son outside Broomfield High School last year, killing both, pleaded guilty to two counts of vehicular homicide.

Jose Menchivar, 38 years old, was brought to criminal responsibility four times for a drunken driving violation in Boulder County before a December 2023 crash in which he hit Riordan and Melissa Powell’s car. According to police, Menjivar was traveling at twice the speed limit when he hit both of them.

Investigators found at least two empty beer cans on the floor of Menjivar’s car. another can of beer on the roadway and an open case of beer in the back of the car with cans missing. Menjivar’s blood alcohol content tested at 0.249, more than three times the legal limit of 0.08.

Menjivar has also been deported four times — in 2009, 2012, 2014 and 2015 — and was serving time for a previous DUI case in the work release program at the time of the crash, prosecutors and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials said. On Dec. 18, ICE filed an immigration detainer with Broomfield County.

Menjivar pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide on Sept. 19, according to court records. He is being held at the Broomfield Detention Center pending his sentencing, which is scheduled for Friday.