APD: Recent shooting done in self-defense
Dec. 8—Detectives say a Las Cruces man acted in self-defense when he fatally shot another man Monday evening in an East Central neighborhood in Albuquerque.
However, police still arrested the shooter, 46-year-old James Lawrence, on a probation violation and he was booked into the Metropolitan Detention Center.
Gilbert Gallegos, an Albuquerque Police Department spokesman, said Lawrence may also face charges for being a felon in possession of a firearm in Monday's shooting, which left 40-year-old Francisco Fonseca dead.
He said homicide detectives worked with the 2nd Judicial District Attorney's Office to determine that the shooting was justified as Fonseca attacked Lawrence with a blunt object. He gave no details as to what led to the incident.
Officers responded to the shooting at a home in the 200 block of Grove NE, a few blocks northwest of Central and Pennsylvania, around 6 p.m. Police discovered Fonseca lying "lifeless."
Witnesses at the scene told detectives Lawrence shot Fonseca in self-defense as Fonseca attacked him with a blunt object.
"Lawrence will not be charged for the shooting, which will be considered a justifiable homicide," Gallegos said.
Lawrence was on probation after serving time in a 2019 case in which he stabbed a Las Cruces Walmart employee who tried to stop him from shoplifting. After his arrest in that case, Lawrence told police he was stealing food for his family and that he "was defending himself" when he stabbed the employee with a knife.
