New Mexico
Police: Child found dead in NE Albuquerque home; suspect arrested
Albuquerque police found a 1-year-old child dead at a home in northeast Albuquerque Monday afternoon and arrested a man in connection to the death.
APD spokesman Tanner Tixier said officers and detectives were first called out to a home in the 300 block of Rhode Island NE around 3:30 p.m. Monday.
Rescuers were unable to revive the child, who was pronounced dead at the scene, according to Tixier.
Tixier said police arrested 28-year-old Jorge Ortega in connection with the child’s death. KOB cameras caught Ortega being arrested and taken from the scene.
Ortega was booked just after midnight Tuesday on one count of child abuse resulting in death. He is being held without bond at the Metropolitan Detention Center.
Ex-state senator facing fraud, bribery charges
A former New Mexico state senator is facing nine criminal counts, including fraud and bribery.
In a statement from the New Mexico Attorney General’s Office, Phil Griego, a Democratic senator from Ribera who resigned last year, allegedly used his role as a legislator to receive personal compensation, which he then failed to disclose in filings required of legislators.
Griego resigned last year amid scrutiny over a real estate deal involving a state-owned building in Santa Fe.
The criminal complaint and request for summons filed Monday in First Judicial District Court says the Attorney General’s Office has been investigating Griego since April 27 of last year. He resigned March 14.
The criminal complaint says that the charges revolve around the sale of a Santa Fe building from the New Mexico Energy, Minerals, and Natural Resources Department (EMNRD) to Galisteo Street, Inc. (GSI).
GSI originally agreed to lease the property in Sept. 2012 and agreed to pay for maintenance costs and $250,000 in renovations. A year later, EMNRD agreed to sell the building to GSI, which required legislative approval.
Griego was tabbed to start the process in the state legislature by EMNRD Deputy Cabinet Secretary Brett Woods, and Griego got in touch with another senator to help sponsor the resolution, according to the criminal complaint.
The complaint alleges Griego presented the resolution, HJR 8, to a Senate committee and failed to raise flags the next day “as inaccurate and incomplete information” on the lease and sale was presented on the Senate floor.
The AG’s Office says that as GSI’s agent, Griego earned $50,000 in commissions that he never disclosed to the state. He also allegedly did not tell a broker who he owed 20 percent of commissions to about the transaction, then shorted another broker his commission as well.
According to state law, the AG’s Office contests that Griego’s interest and ations in the contract could invalidate it.
Griego is charged with two counts of violations of ethical principles of public service, bribery and solicitation, three counts of fraud, one count of perjury, one count of tampering with public records and with violating the Financial Disclosure Act.
Critics say it was unethical for him to profit from a legislative action.
When reached by phone Monday, Griego simply said, “I did nothing wrong,” and did not elaborate further, saying he was meeting with his attorney Tuesday and did not want to comment on an ongoing case. He did say he would fight the charges.
Gov. Susana Martinez appointed Sen. Ted Barela, R-Estancia, to Griego’s vacated seat last April.
2nd suspect arrested in NYE beer pong murder
Albuquerque police on Friday arrested a second suspect in the New Year’s Eve murder of a man over a beer pong game.
Police arrested Luis Delgado, 23, Friday. He has been charged with aggravated battery with great bodily harm, an open charge of murder, conspiracy, tampering with evidence and aggravated burglary in the shooting death of Joray Chavez.
Police say Delgado’s accomplice, Nathan Ware, was at a party at an apartment on Estancia near Central and got into a fight with Chavez during a game of beer pong.
Police arrested Ware in early January.
After the fight, Ware left and came back with two friends, one of whom was allegedly Delgado. Police said Ware told his friends to shoot Chavez, who later died at the hospital.
A second person was shot during the fight.
Ware’s phone records indicated he had spoken or text messaged with Delgado four times around the time of the shooting. Though Delgado denied it, his phone records showed the same, according to a criminal complaint for his arrest.
He was arrested and is being held without bond at MDC on the charges and a probation violation.
Man arrested by US Marshals after daylong manhunt will again face 2014 murder charges
A 13th Judicial District judge decided Friday the man arrested by US Marshals last Saturday after a daylong manhunt in Albuquerque will be prosecuted on charges stemming from the 2014 murder of a man in Los Lunas.
George Bond again faces first-degree murder, shooting from a motor vehicle resulting in death, shooting from a motor vehicle involving injury, tampering with evidence and conspiracy charges in the July 2014 murder of 21-year-old Charles Davlin, according to District Attorney Lemuel Martinez.
Two others were also arrested in Sept. 2014 in connection to the murder.
Bond’s case was dismissed in November, but an order to reopen the case was granted January 29. When Bond failed to appear at the hearing on Feb. 1, a warrant was issued for his arrest.
Bond escaped federal agents and Albuquerque police when they tried to arrest him at a downtown Albuquerque post office Feb. 19.
He was arrested the next morning, along with six others, at an Albuquerque trailer park. US Marshals shot and killed 23-year-old Edgar Camacho-Alvarado in that incident.
In addition to this case, Bond also has several other past charges.
In September 2013, he was charged with breaking into a home and resisting arrest. The next month, he was charged with stealing a car and again evading arrest.
In July 2014 he was charged with stealing a car and aggravated fleeing an officer. Then, in January 2015, he was charged with drug possession and aggravated fleeing.
The trial for Bond’s murder charge is expected to start in November.
This story was originally published at KOB.com
NMSP report: Man killed pointed gun at marshal before he was shot
ALBUQUERQUE, NM — New Mexico State Police on Wednesday gave an updated account of the shooting by U.S. Marshals over the weekend that left a man dead whose family says was an innocent bystander.
The update from state police Wednesday says 23-year-old Edgar Camacho-Alvarado, the man shot and killed, was following a deputy U.S. Marshal near the entrance of the trailer park, where Marshals were looking for fugitive George Bond.
State police wrote in their update that the deputy marshal tried to talk to Camacho-Alvarado, who allegedly pulled out a gun and fled.
The state police report says the deputy marshal followed Camacho-Alvarado to near the steps of Trailer No. 26.
At that point, state police say Camacho-Alvarado pointed his alleged gun at the deputy marshal, who fired four times at Camacho-Alvarado.
Camacho-Alvarado was hit once. State police say the autopsy shows he was hit under his right armpit in the front of his body and that the bullet traveled back toward the bottom of his left shoulder.
State police wrote that other deputies went to the area, moved Camacho-Alvarado from the steps, handcuffed him and rendered aid.
State police said marshals found a .9mm handgun near Camacho-Alvarado’s body, which they put into a marshal’s vehicle.
Marshals then went into the trailer and searched it, though state police say marshals did not search Camacho-Alvarado’s room because it was locked.
State police write that marshals ordered the entire trailer park to shelter in place while they searched for Bond after the shooting. He and six others were eventually arrested. NMSP, Albuquerque Police Department officers and Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office deputies were all called in to assist after the shooting of Camacho-Alvarado, state police said.
State police said that its investigations bureau at some time obtained and executed a search warrant at Trailer No. 26, where Camacho-Alvarado lived.
They said that inside the trailer, they found a .380 caliber handgun without a serial number, a .380 magazine, empty rifle magazines and a loaded .9mm magazine “consistent with the weapon” found on Camacho-Alvarado’s body.
Camacho-Alvarado had had a felony warrant out for his arrest since Oct. 2014 after he violated probation by failing a drug test. He was convicted in 2013 of larceny over $2,500, tampering with evidence and possession of burglary tools.
The marshal who shot Camacho-Alvarado is Deputy U.S. Marshal Paul Hernandez, a 12-year veteran of the marshals.
State police say information and evidence is still being gathered. None of the state police report can be independently corroborated by KOB thus far because of rules that allow marshals and other law enforcement officers participating in marshals warrant services not to wear body cameras or release information from federal investigations.
Camacho-Alvarado’s family has also claimed he was shot at Trailer No. 23, while he was working on his truck, which differs from the state police report.
Camacho-Alvarado’s family intends to sue the federal government for his death, Albuquerque lawyer Bob Gorence said Tuesday. Gorence also claimed Camacho-Alvarado was shot “execution style.”
Family of man killed by Marshals in warrant service will file suit; attorney claims man was shot ‘execution style’
Albuquerque attorney Bob Gorence said Tuesday he will file a federal tort claim notice to sue the federal government over the shooting death of 23-year-old Edgar Camacho-Alvarado.
A news release from Gorence’s office Tuesday also alleges that the Office of Medical Investigator has deemed his death to be a homicide, though most killings of a person by another person are, and that federal agents shot Camacho-Alvarado “execution style.”
“Multiple eye witness accounts [say] that federal agents dragged Mr. Alvarado from the house after he had been shot in the back and, while gurgling and flailing his arms and, unable to respond to law enforcement commands, he was shot execution style in a coup de grace a final time in the back,” Gorence wrote in the news release.
Gorence wrote that if that is true, marshals would have violated Camacho-Alavarado’s Fourth Amendment rights.
His news release also says that agents were authorized a state search warrant that authorized only a daytime search warrant to try and find fugitive George Bond, and also alleges that the warrant was mistakenly issued for the wrong trailer lot.
Gorence has asked for all law enforcement reports relating to the incident, and goes on to talk about the differences in federal and state laws in being able to obtain information about law enforcement activities.
None of the claims in Gorence’s letter have been substantiated by law enforcement so far.
This story was originally published at KOB.com
Police: Baby in car seat ejected from vehicle in crash on I-40; mom arrested after fleeing scene
A young child in a car seat was ejected from a white SUV in a crash near westbound I-40 and Wyoming Boulevard in Albuquerque Monday.
Police said the mother, 36-year-old Georgette Vigil, fled the scene of the crash, leaving the 18-month-old child behind.
The child was still strapped into the seat when officers arrived. The baby suffered several small cuts and was hospitalized but police said the child didn’t appear to have any major injuries.
Albuquerque police later found the vehicle and driver in the 500 block of Dallas SE.
APD spokesman Tanner Tixier said the preliminary investigation indicates Vigil lost control of her vehicle and hit the jersey barrier on westbound I-40. According to APD, Vigil fled the scene after the child was ejected.
Tixier said Vigil showed signs of intoxication when she was arrested and was transported to a local hospital with a cut to her head.
He said she is expected to be charged with felony child abuse when she is released.
Tixier also said a second child, approximately 3 years old, was in the vehicle during the crash. The child did not appear to be injured but was transported to a hospital for cautionary reasons.
A man, identified by police Tuesday as 34-year-old James Moquino, fled the vehicle when when the original crash happened and has not been found. Tixier said Tuesday he has an active felony warrant for his arrest, which is “more than likely the reason he fled.”
Vigil has no criminal record in New Mexico, according to state court records, but there is a pending child custody case.
On Tuesday, the Children, Youth and Families Department confirmed the 18-month-old child is currently in state custody. The other child is in the custody of a family member.
Police also on Tuesday released the 911 calls from the incident. We’ll have more on those coming up on KOB Eyewitness News 4 at 5, 6 and 6:30 p.m.
Arizona police arrest 2 in connection to ABQ woman’s murder in Phoenix suburb
Surprise, Arizona police arrested two men over the past two days in connection with the Feb. 9 murder of an Albuquerque woman and her friend in the Phoenix suburb.
75-year-old Ruth Schwed, of Albuquerque, and her friend, 70-year-old Barbara Leslie, were both shot and killed at Leslie’s home.
Friday, Surprise police arrested 24-year-old Andrew Thomas Lauro, of Goodyear, Arizona, for his involvement in the murder. He is charged with two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of armed robbery and one count of first-degree burglary.
Investigators also traveled to Michigan, where they arrested the second suspect, Montez Lavell Wright III, in Southfield.
Wright awaits extradition back to Arizona where he faces the same charges as Lauro.
Surprise police said the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office and FBI were among the agencies that participated in the investigation.
Schwed’s family had offered a $15,000 reward to anyone with tips that led to a suspect’s capture and conviction.
Schwed’s family released the following statement Sunday evening:
“We applaud the work of the Surprise Police Department as they work to bring to justice those responsible for the murder of our mother and her friend. The arrests announced today are due to the diligence of the Surprise police department and multiple law enforcement agencies and those working with them. Our family continues to grieve the loss of our mother, grandmother, and sister. Our goal is to ensure that those responsible for these murders will never be able to harm anyone again.”
Ex-Sec. of State wants judge to lessen probation requirements
Former New Mexico Secretary of State Dianna Duran wants a judge to reconsider the terms of her probation.
Duran was sentenced to 30 days in jail and five years of probation for misusing campaign funds to pay off casino debts. As part of her conditions of probation, Duran is required to make four public appearances per month for the next three years to speak about her career and mistakes to civic groups and schools.
However, a motion filed in Santa Fe district court likens these appearances to “public shaming” rather than rehabilitation, according to KOB’s news partners at the Santa Fe New Mexican.
“Seemingly, these required weekly public appearances are tantamount to public shaming, similar to the defendant required to display a bumper sticker advertising ‘convicted felon’ or “convicted DWI,'” the motion reads.
The motion also states these public speaking appearances could endanger Duran’s life, citing online comments on news stories about Duran.
“There are numerous members of the public who would delight in the opportunity to inflict physical harm on Ms. Duran,” the motion reads.
Duran’s attorney requests the judge reduce the public speaking requirement to one per month.
In the motion, her attorney also requests a reduction in Duran’s community service hours from 2,000 to 1,000 due to her role as a caregiver for her three grandsons.
Duran also wants the judge to allow her to travel throughout the state without having to obtain authorization from the probation office.
The Office of the Attorney General says it opposes her motion and will file a response with the court citing its reasons for opposition.
The Democratic Party issued a response, saying, “Rather than trying to get special treatment, Duran should be working with the community as her sentence requires.”
This story originally appeared at KOB.com
House affirms $6.2B budget, sends to governor’s desk
The New Mexico House of Representatives on Wednesday concurred on the $6.2 billion budget the Senate sent back to it to vote on, and the budget now heads to the governor’s desk to sign.
The House voted 57-10 to approve the budget Wednesday evening. It had originally approved a roughly $6.3 billion budget, which was cut some in the Senate. Overall, the budget has been cut by hundreds of millions of dollars over the past several months because of dwindling revenues from the oil and gas industry.
There are some winners in the budget: Medicaid gets a $21 million increase, as do public schools, though they are getting just $7 million more. Corrections officers at state prisons are also set to finally get a raise, with $11 million coming to prisons.
But higher education will be hit with a big loss, leaving state colleges and universities reeling with a decrease of nearly $20 million.
The court system will also see budget cuts – exactly the opposite of what it needed.
Budget analysts estimate $125 million in cuts for the next two years but say it’s unlikely state jobs will be lost.