Teen suspect in Jaydon Chavez-Silver shooting pleads guilty to lesser charges

One of the teens charged in the fatal shooting of Jaydon Chavez-Silver in Albuquerque last summer pleaded guilty to lesser charges in the case Tuesday.

Nicholas Gonzales-Villasenor was indicted last August on first and second-degree murder and manslaughter charges, or their numerous alternatives.

Tuesday, he pleaded guilty to one count of shooting at a dwelling or occupied building with great bodily harm and conspiracy.

He had faced charges as a serious youth offender, but will no longer face the adult legal system since he will not be convicted of first-degree murder. He was arrested in the case in August, while he was already in custody on other charges.

He will be sentenced at a later date, a spokesman for the district attorney’s office told KOB.

Charges against two of Gonzales-Villasenor’s alleged accomplices – Donovan Maez and Christopher Cruz — were dropped in early June.The Bernalillo County District Attorney’s office said at the time it did not have the evidence to proceed with their cases.

But District Attorney Kari Brandenburg did say at the same time she believed she had enough evidence to move forward in the cases against Gonzales-Villasenor and the fourth person charged in the case: Dominic Conyers.

Conyers was arrested in early March after police determined there were three shooters at the scene.

Chavez-Silver, 17, was killed at a party in northeast Albuquerque last June in a drive-by shooting.