Young man accused of killing Albuquerque homeowner during attempted car theft
May 19—An 18-year-old is accused of killing a man who caught him trying to steal a car late last year in Southwest Albuquerque.
Juanito Montoya is charged with an open count of murder, robbery, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and tampering with evidence in the December 16 death of 34-year-old Adrian Vallejos.
Montoya's attorney could not be reached Saturday.
New Mexico State Police said on Tuesday an officer pulled over a car speeding through Roswell and identified the driver as Montoya, who had a warrant out for his arrest.
Montoya had not yet been booked into the Bernalillo County jail as of Saturday.
An online obituary for Vallejos, who was engaged to be married, described him as "a fun loving free spirit that loved to make people laugh."
"He loved with his whole heart and was always there to lend a helping hand," according to the obituary.
Police responded around 4 a.m. to a shooting outside Vallejos' house in the 10100 block of Cartagena SW, according to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court. Officers found Vallejos fatally injured with a gun nearby, and he died at the hospital.
Police said Vallejos' fiancée told police that he had confronted two men breaking into his car before one of them shot him. Video surveillance showed one person rummaging through the car as another kept watch before Vallejos yelled "get out of here" followed by two bursts of gunfire.
Within an hour police were told someone crashed a white sedan, which had been stolen the night before, into a wall a block away from the homicide, according to the complaint. Officers found a drunk 16-year-old at a nearby gas station with a ski mask in his pocket.
Police said the teen told them he had been picked up the night before by some friends in a stolen white sedan. Detectives searched the teen's social media and found messages from another teen that indicated they had stolen the car and given it to him to drive home.
Further searches of the teens' social media turned up a message where one of them alleges "Nito" shot Vallejos while they were trying to steal his car, according to the complaint. The message was sent less than an hour after the homicide happened, long before any details were released.
Police said they narrowed down which social media account belonged to "Nito" and traced it to a number belonging to Montoya's grandmother. Detectives said Montoya asked one of the other teens to pick him up hours before the homicide and called each other 20 minutes afterward.
The next day Montoya sent a news article on Vallejos' homicide to his girlfriend, according to the complaint. Detectives compared the shooter's face, captured briefly in surveillance video, with Montoya's and found there were "similar facial structure and features."
