APD arrests juvenile for 2023 murder during attempted theft of Kia
ALBUQUERQUE – APD detectives arrested a 17-year-old on Thursday and charged him with the shooting death of Adrian Vallejos during an attempted auto theft of the victim’s Kia vehicle.
The offender was 16 at the time of the homicide on Dec. 16, 2023. He is accused of shooting several rounds at Vallejos after Vallejos confronted a group of teens who were attempting to steal his vehicle in the driveway of his home, located at 10108 Cartagena Ave., S.W.
Surveillance video showed one teen inside the blue Kia wearing a ski mask as a second teen, later identified as Vallejos, walked around the car and looks inside the vehicle from the rear passenger side.
Another surveillance video that included sound showed Vallejos and his girlfriend walk out the front door of their home after hearing a horn honking and dogs barking. Vallejos was walking with a cell phone in his left hand and a handgun in his right hand. He yelled, “Hey, get out of here,” as he walked past his girlfriend.
The video picked up the sound of a burst of three gun shots as Vallejos fell to the ground. Two more bursts of three gunshots are heard. During the final burst of gunshots, the taillights of a white sedan parked in front of the house are seen lighting up. After a few seconds, the white sedan is seen leaving eastbound.
Vallejos died as a result of his gunshot wounds.
As detectives start their investigation on Dec. 16, they learned about a vehicle that crashed into a wall on Ladera Drive. The vehicle, a white Kia, had been reported stolen earlier in the night from a home that was near the location of the fatal shooting.
Homicide detectives and APD’s Digital Intelligence Team identified several teens and conversations about the shooting through social media and phone data. They eventually identified the 17 year-old as the shooting suspect and determined that he was involved in disposing the gun.
Detectives obtained an arrest warrant for the teen on July 26, and he was arrested by APD detectives on Thursday. He was booked into the Juvenile Detention Center for an open count of murder, conspiracy, robbery, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, tampering with evidence.
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