Man accused of killing 4-year-old girl charged with federal crimes

Tony Torrez, the man accused of shooting and killing 4-year-old Lilly Garcia in a road rage incident last week, has been charged with federal firearm and drug trafficking crimes by the Drug Enforcement Administration.

A federal criminal complaint charges Torrez with marijuana possession with intent to distribute and carrying a firearm while committing drug trafficking crimes.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Albuquerque say Albuquerque Police Department detectives watched Torrez load “items” into a car at his house, which a woman then drove away in. Police arrested Torrez shortly thereafter in a separate Lexus sedan. Police obtained warrants to search both vehicles and Torrez’s home.

When the warrant was executed, APD found shoe boxes filled with money, marijuana and THC oil wax at Torrez house, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The DEA then obtained a federal warrant to seize the items and cash.

When warrants were executed on the two vehicles, agents allegedly found money and a small amount of marijuana in the Lexus. In the Toyota, agents found large bags of marijuana, two revolvers, two rifles, a bulletproof vest, suspected cocaine and paraphernalia.

The money taken from Torrez’s home and the two vehicles totaled $64,000.

If convicted of the two federal charges, he faces at least five years in federal prison. The firearm charge carries a mandatory five-year minimum sentence and the marijuana trafficking charge carries a maximum of five years.

Torrez is currently being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center on a $650,000 cash bond for his state charges: first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, assault with intent to commit a violent felony, shooting from a motor vehicle, child abuse resulting in death and tampering with evidence.

His federal charges carry a no-bond hold.

This story originally appeared at KOB.com

Posted on: October 30, 2015Blair Miller