APD: 5 teens charged in woman's death
May 23—What was planned as a family night of fun hitting golf balls ended with a woman being shot and killed and her fiancé injured in what police believe was a case of mistaken identity.
Albuquerque police said Sunday they are looking for five teenagers who have been charged in connection with 28-year-old Kayla Montaño's death in late March.
Gilbert Gallegos, an Albuquerque Police Department spokesman, said warrants on murder and other charges have been issued for Ty Ashton Gallegos, 16, Adam C. Sedillo, 16, Estevan Damian Lucero, 15, Diamond Reign Salazar, 19, and Caprice Linda Sicilia, 17, in connection with the shooting.
On March 25, Montaño and her fiancé, Johnathan Dematties, two other adults and a child were going to Top Golf when they stopped at about 8:40 p.m. at the Maverik gas station on Princeton NE near Comanche and Interstate 25.
Shortly after pulling into the parking lot, Montaño yelled "go, go, go" to her fiancé, the driver, according to a criminal complaint against the suspects filed in Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court.
That's when three males opened fire on the vehicle, volleying about 30 shots at the sport utility vehicle.
Montaño died during the shooting and Dematties, who was shot in the back and had a bullet graze his head, was able to drive away. He was taken to the hospital, according to police.
Relatives previously told the Journal that Montaño's 7-year-old daughter, brother and brother's girlfriend were in the backseat when the shooting happened.
"The other victims in the vehicle were ducking for cover and escaped physical injury," a detective wrote in the complaint. "It appeared that the victims had no personal knowledge of the shooters or any of the offenders involved."
Police in the court documents said surveillance video showed three males hide behind gas pumps and the car before opening fire on the black SUV. The three shooters and two females then got into two cars and fled, according to the complaint.
One of those vehicles was tracked to Sicilia. In an interview in April, Sicilia told police that on the night of the shooting, she and Salazar went to Columbus Park to buy marijuana when they were robbed at gunpoint by two masked men, according to the complaint.
They later met up with Gallegos, Sedillo and Lucero at the Maverik station. She told police Salazar, who had her phone taken during the alleged robbery, was tracking her phone on a tracking application. She believed the robbers were in the area, and then Dematties pulled into the parking lot, according to the complaint.
Salazar yelled "that's it" several times, and the males opened fire, according to the complaint.
Salazar, in an interview with police, said she was robbed the night of March 25 at Columbus Park when she and Sicilia went there to buy a gun. She denied being at the gas station during the shooting.
The complaint says police also interviewed Lucero, who denied all involvement. Gallegos requested a lawyer.
The complaint also says police obtained cellphone records of the suspects, which place them with each other before, after and during the shooting. It does say that Lucero's cellphone was turned off for parts of the night.
The phone records also show that some of the suspects looked up news reports of the shooting.
According to court records and police, all five suspects have been charged with an open count of murder, shooting at a motor vehicle and conspiracy.
Tips
Albuquerque police asks anyone with information on the case to call 505-242-COPS.
