Albuquerque police are looking for a second suspect in the July 13 fatal shooting of 23-year-old Lawrence Vargas at a Downtown parking lot -- the girlfriend of suspected shooter Joseph Espinoza, the Albuquerque Journal reported this morning.

Police say 22-year-old Marie Gonzales was one of two women in a car with Espinoza the night he allegedly shot and killed Vargas, the Journal reported.

Witnesses told police that Espinoza and the women were in a black Cadillac blocking the exit from the parking garage near Third and Copper and that Gonzales -- who police say is Espinoza's girlfriend and a dancer at a local strip club -- got out of the car, pulled a handgun out of the trunk and handed it to Espinoza, the paper said.

Gonzales has been charged with an open count of murder, criminal solicitation and being an accessory to a felony, according to court documents.

APD homicide Sgt. Carlos Argueta told the Journal that while police are on the lookout for Gonzales, they consider Espinoza the more dangerous of the two fugitives.

8:30am 7/22/08 -- 'Perfect Example of a Career Criminal': Man sought in July 13 killing of young city worker/artist had missed probation appointment.

Police and probation officers are still looking for 29-year-old Joseph Espinoza, the man accused of shooting 23-year-old Lawrence Vargas to death in a Downtown Albuquerque parking garage on July 13.

Four days before the young artist and city animal welfare worker was shot down, Espinoza missed an appointment with his probation officer to get fitted for a GPS tracking device, the Albuquerque Journal's T.J. Wilham reported this morning.

It's not the first time probation officers have hunted Espinoza, described by police as a known gang member, the Journal reported.

He was released from prison and placed on probation June 5, but he has been on probation or parole twice before, according to the Journal.

"Unfortunately, we see this all too often," New Mexico Corrections Department spokeswoman Tia Bland told the Journal. "He is the perfect example of a career criminal. There are a lot of them in and out."

According to Bland, Espinoza first went to prison in 1998 after being convicted of kidnapping a young child, and the next year he was convicted of possession of a deadly weapon in connection with an assault on a corrections officer, the Journal reported.

He was released in 2001 and put on parole, but the following year he violated parole and was returned to prison, according to the Journal.

In 2003 he was released on probation, but in 2006 he violated his probation and was sent back behind bars until June 5, when he was released and put on 17 months probation, the paper reported.

Espinoza was supposed to be fitted with an electronic GPS device that wraps around his ankle on July 8, but he missed the appointment, calling the probation office and leaving a voice message apologizing for missing the appointment, the Journal said.

The message said he had gotten a job at a restaurant and was busy but would reschedule the appointment -- but he never did, the paper reported.

"It looked like he was trying to comply and do the right thing by calling," Bland told the Journal. "What happened after that is anyone's guess."

Bland said, however, that even if Espinoza had gotten the ankle bracelet -- and if in fact he shot Vargas following a fight at the parking garage near 3rd and Gold -- it probably wouldn't have prevented the shooting, the Journal said.

Terms and conditions of Espinoza's probation wouldn't have prevented him from being in the parking garage that night, the paper reported.

Anyone with information on Espinoza's whereabouts is asked to call 843-STOP. 

6:35am 7/16/08 -- Police ID Suspect in Parking Garage Shooting: Man sought in Sunday morning death of city worker is called 'extremely' dangerous.

Police are looking for 29-year-old Joseph Espinoza, who is charged with an open count of murder, in the shooting death of 23-year-old Lawrence Vargas at a Downtown parking garage around 2 a.m. Sunday, the Albuquerque Journal reported this morning.

Espinoza, who is accused of shooting Vargas in the chest following an argument at the garage at 3rd and Copper NW, was described as "extremely armed and dangerous," the Journal reported.

At the time of the shooting, Espinoza was on probation on charges that he had a deadly weapon or explosive while in prison in 1999, according to Corrections Department records.

Police said the deadly fight began when Vargas, who worked at Animal Welfare's West Side shelter, was leaving the Library Bar & Grill with some friends when he got into a confrontation with Espinoza, whose car was blocking the exit from the parking garage, the Journal reported.

The argument escalated and punches were thrown before Vargas and his friends started walking up a ramp to the garage's second level where their car was parked, the Journal said.

Witnesses told police that one of two women in Espinoza's car removed a handgun from the trunk of the car and gave it to Espinoza, who then allegedly followed the men up the ramp and shot Vargas in the chest, according to the Journal. 

1:25pm 7/14/08 -- Police ID Downtown Shooting Victim: Man killed in mad-dogging incident early Sunday worked at city Animal Welfare.

The man shot to death in an apparent "mad-dogging" incident around 2 a.m. at the 3rd and Copper NW parking garage has been identified as 23-year-old Lawrence Vargas, police told KOAT-TV.

Detectives said it was the sixth possible homicide in the Albuquerque area in the past week, Action 7 News reported. 

Vargas was shot once in the chest after he punched his attacker once in the face, police told KRQE News 13 and the Albuquerque Journal.

He was pronounced dead at University of New Mexico Hospital, according to News 13.

Based on witness statements, the attacker was described as a Hispanic man in his 20s, about 5 feet 8 inches tall, weighing about 150 pounds with a shaved head, APD spokesman John Walsh told the Journal.

Witnesses also told police he was driving a shiny black two-door Chrysler Sebring or Cadillac with 22-inch chrome wheels and dents in the driver's door, Walsh told the Journal.

KRQE reported that the suspect was with a petite Hispanic woman with long brown hair and another woman who was described as heavy-set.

Anyone with information is asked to call Albuquerque police at (505) 242-COPS or Crime Stoppers at (505) 843-STOP. 

The staff and management of the Department of Animal Welfare issued the following statement on Vargas' death:

"We are deeply saddened by the loss of a friend and co-worker we knew as Lorenzo. He came to Animal Welfare two years ago and was a valued and caring employee at the West Side shelter. We pray for him and for his family during this time of immense grief. Lorenzo will be greatly missed."