Police charge second suspect in deadly spa robbery

Matthew Reisen, Albuquerque Journal, N.M.
·2 min read

Jan. 28—Authorities have arrested the second suspect in an armed robbery turned shootout that left the owner of a massage business dead Monday night in Northeast Albuquerque.

Rebecca Atkins, an Albuquerque police spokeswoman, said law enforcement in Seminole Texas arrested Juan Carlos Hernandez, 19, on Friday.

He is charged with an open count of murder, armed robbery with a deadly weapon, tampering with evidence and conspiracy in the death of 45-year-old Sihui Fang, owner of Wonderful Massage.

His alleged accomplice, 18-year-old Jorge Rivera-Ramirez, was charged Tuesday in Fang's death. He is recovering from multiple gunshot wounds in a local hospital.

Authorities said the two men robbed Fang, who was alone at the spa, at gunpoint before killing her after she armed herself. Rivera-Ramirez called 911 and was hospitalized and Hernandez fled the scene.

Authorities believe the homicide is the latest in a string of robberies committed by the duo at massage businesses around Albuquerque.

On Jan. 26, according to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court, Rivera-Ramirez told police "his back had been hurting" and a high-school friend, Hernandez, took him to the spa Monday.

Police said he told them he just wanted a massage and Hernandez was responsible for the robbery, shooting both he and Fang in the process. When a detective confronted him about the security video, Rivera-Ramirez "began to cry" and told them he assisted with the robbery but maintained that Hernandez was the shooter.

Over repeated viewings of security footage and based on evidence at the scene, detectives determined Hernandez forced Fang to let in Rivera-Ramirez at gunpoint. When Fang tried to run, Hernandez dragged her back inside by her hair.

Fang gave the men cash before they both shot her, a total of ten times, as she fired back with a gun from her office, according to police.

"(Rivera-Ramirez) admitted that he and (Hernandez) previously robbed other massage parlors in the past," a detective wrote.