Opening statements were heard Monday in the trial of Martin Leonel Nevarez, 18, who is charged with second-degree murder, shooting at a motor vehicle and tampering with evidence in the July 1, 2007 fatal shooting of 14-year-old Alberto Soto, the Las Cruces Sun-News reported.

Nevarez was 17 at the time of the shooting but is being tried as an adult, the Sun-News said.

Soto, a student at Gadsden High School, was shot once in the chest at close range and died at the scene, less than two weeks after a gang-related shooting in the small community that straddles the New Mexico-Texas border, the Sun-News reported.

Prosecutors said Monday that Nevarez attempted to confront a carload of people who drove by his house in the early-morning hours and shouted at the people in the car, including Soto, before pulling a shotgun and firing at the vehicle, the paper said.

The vehicle left the scene but two of its occupants, including Soto, returned to Nevarez's house where he was fatally shot, according to prosecutor Jeanne Quintero's opening statement.

Defense attorney Maria Laverde disputed the details of the shooting and told jurors in her opening statement that two tragedies occurred the night of the shooting -- that Soto died and that "my client was charged and arrested with this," the Sun-News reported.

The trial is scheduled to end on Friday but could wrap up sooner, the paper said. 

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