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Judge orders pretrial detention for three youths in Pajarito Mesa killing
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The killing of a 16-year-old boy found fatally shot May 18 at a remote site west of Albuquerque may be related to an earlier shooting incident, a prosecutor said Tuesday at a detention hearing.
Bernalillo County Sheriff鈥檚 Office deputies have arrested three youths in the May 18 shooting death of Jesus Quintana Cota at Pajarito Mesa.
Judge Joseph Montano on Tuesday ordered Dominik Marquez, 17, and Daniel Medrano Garcia, 18, to remain in custody while awaiting trial.
Montano previously ordered a third person, Mariana Gomez-Salinas, 18, to remain in custody pending trial.
All three are charged with first-degree murder, kidnapping, armed robbery and other charges in Cota鈥檚 killing.
Prosecutor Natalie Lyons told Montano that the killing may have been in revenge for an April 1 incident reported to the Albuquerque Police Department.
Montano said cellphone text messages suggest 鈥渁 level of planning鈥� among the three defendants both before and after Cota鈥檚 killing that warrants pretrial detention.
In the April 1 incident, Cota allegedly shot at a white Chrysler 300 that belonged to Medrano Garcia in Northwest Albuquerque, according to a criminal complaint filed in Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court.
Sheriff鈥檚 Office investigators interviewed Gomez-Salinas, who allegedly said that Marquez and Medrano Garcia asked for her help 鈥渂ecause they needed to talk to him and he was hiding,鈥� the complaint said.
Gomez-Salinas allegedly drove Cota to a location near Dennis Chavez and Atrisco Vista, where he was beaten by Marquez and Medrano Garcia, the complaint said.
The group then picked up an unidentified 鈥渙lder Mexican man鈥� who pointed a rifle at Cota, the complaint said.
They told Gomez-Salinas to drive out to Pajarito Mesa, 鈥渨here they got out and she heard fighting and gunshots,鈥� the complaint said. 鈥淭hey got back in the truck but Jesus (Cota) did not.鈥�
