CRIME
Three charged in road rage homicide
Suspects told detectives they believed man had a weapon, police say
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Three people are behind bars in the fatal shooting of a man Sunday evening during a road-rage incident in Southwest Albuquerque.
Santiago Soto, 17, Alejandro Marquez Sotelo, 17, and Sebastian Soto, 23, are each charged with an open count of murder in the death of 59-year-old David Whiting.
Sebastian Soto was booked into the Metropolitan Detention Center while Santiago Soto and Sotelo were booked into the Bernalillo County juvenile jail.
Police said Santiago Soto told detectives he shot Whiting after Whiting punched Sotelo through the driver鈥檚 side window. Santiago Soto told police he believed Whiting had a gun on him at the time.
Police were dispatched around 8:50 p.m. to a shooting at Marquez and Eighth SW and found Whiting shot in the face, according to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court.
Officers spoke with Whiting鈥檚 wife, who said she and her husband were driving home from the Old Town plaza after meeting with some friends from the lowrider community, according to a Thursday news release from Albuquerque Police Department spokesperson Gilbert Gallegos.
Whiting was driving south on Tingley when a red vehicle 鈥減ulled up behind them at a high rate of speed" in a 25 mph zone, the complaint states. The vehicle accelerated to get in front of Whiting before the car started "brake checking鈥� Whiting鈥檚 car.
When the red car stopped at a stop sign at Marquez and Eighth, according to the complaint, Whiting got out of his car and walked up to the vehicle.
His wife told police that she heard her husband exchange words with the driver before a woman yelled 鈥淣o,鈥� and at least two gunshots rang out, the complaint states.
Whiting鈥檚 wife told police the vehicle drove away down Eighth Street.
Police used video surveillance and automatic license plate readers to identify the vehicle, the complaint states. Officers executed a search warrant on a South Valley home where the vehicle was seen and multiple people were detained.
Police said one man was seen throwing a bag over a fence after officers arrived.
Officers interviewed Sebastian Soto, who said that Santiago Soto had given him the bag 鈥� which had two guns in it, according to the complaint. He told police he was afraid he would be in trouble because the guns were unregistered.
Santiago Soto told officers that he shot Whiting after the man punched Sotelo in the face, the complaint states. Officers spoke to Sotelo, who said Santiago Soto then shot Whiting with a gun that had a switch 鈥� making it fire automatic 鈥� and an extended magazine, according to the complaint.
When police spoke with Santiago Soto, he told officers that he believed he saw Whiting reach down as he got out of his vehicle to confront the group, the complaint states. He told police he thought Whiting grabbed a weapon, which prompted him to grab his Glock 17.
Nakayla McClelland covers crime and breaking news. Reach her at nmcclelland@abqjournal.com or at 505-823-3857.
