Prosecutors in New Mexico's busiest judicial district have been pleading with state lawmakers to amend the children's code to address what they call an unbelievable spike in juvenile crime in Albuquerque.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Behind the wheel of the stolen car was a 12-year-old boy. In the front passenger seat was a boy who just days earlier had marked his 11th birthday. He was waving a handgun as a 15-year-old boy in the backseat recorded video of what police described as a deliberate hit-and-run.

A voice believed to be the 15-year-old’s says, “Just bump him, brah.” The driver asks, “Like bump him?” The rear passenger responds, “Yeah, just bump him. Go like … 15 … 20.”

The car smashed into a bicyclist on his way to work. The windshield shattered and the car sped away in the predawn hours that May morning.

Months passed with no arrests. Then in February a video of the deadly crash surfaced on social media. Remarkably it led police back to an 11-year-old who last June was arrested and placed in custody for a series of break-ins and burglaries in northeast Albuquerque. Police also accused the boy of shooting and wounding another teen, which prompted an investigation that turned up firearms and a bullet-proof vest that had been stolen from a police vehicle.

But the allegations of running down and killing a person were on another level, one seldom dealt with in New Mexico's juvenile justice system.

The 11-year-old and the other boys in the car, now ages 13 and 16, were arrested last week in connection with the death of Scott Dwight Habermehl, a father of two and a successful engineer.

Prosecutors said Friday that all three boys will face the same charges: counts of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, leaving the scene of an accident involving great bodily harm or death and unlawful possession of a handgun by a person under 19. Prosecutors are seeking to have the oldest boy charged as an adult.

The spike in juvenile violence — particularly this latest case — has shaken the community, further frustrated law enforcement and added to the pressure on policymakers to reconsider the limitations of a juvenile justice system that wasn't designed to deal with children as young as 11.

Authorities have suggested there is a perception among juveniles that they won't face consequences for violent crimes.

Albuquerque police have arrested numerous teens, most being 15 or older, in homicide cases over the last year. Legal experts and authorities can't recall a case in which someone as young as 11 has faced a murder charge.

Under state law, the 11-year-old cannot be held in a juvenile detention center but will remain in the custody of the state child welfare agency. The other two boys were ordered to remain in a juvenile detention center as their cases proceed, with children's court judges finding they were a danger to themselves and the community .

Santa Fe-based attorney John Day said New Mexico’s juvenile justice system was meant to intervene and get help for children so they wouldn't commit crimes as adults. It was designed with the assumption that kids this young weren't competent to engage in this kind of violent behavior, he said.

“Obviously when you have 11-year-olds who are being accused of participating in running over bicyclists and brandishing guns, that’s something that when they were drafting these laws was really not taken into consideration because it was a different time. It was a different era,” Day said.

There is a minimum age for prosecuting juveniles in 26 states, with statutes spelling out various exceptions, according to the National Juvenile Justice Network. But New Mexico is among the many states without a minimum age and state law allows for teenagers as young as 14 in some instances to be tried in adult court only for first-degree murder.

Bernalillo County District Attorney Sam Bregman says the children's code is antiquated, but efforts have failed to get the Democratic-controlled Legislature to expand the types of violent crimes juveniles could be charged in as adults.

“The single most effective step to reduce violent crime in our community is modernizing our juvenile justice system with meaningful consequences alongside behavioral health support,” Bregman said recently.

Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Saturday reiterated her disappointment that lawmakers failed to pass legislation to address juvenile justice and what she described as a crime crisis. She also pointed to a deadly shooting at a park in Las Cruces on Friday night, saying lawmakers should expect to be called back for a special session.

Before the creation of juvenile courts more than a century ago, children who were older than 7 were processed and incarcerated under common law just as adults would be. Younger children were considered incapable of possessing criminal intent.