Detectives have charged a 16-year-old West Mesa High student who they believe fired the bullets that killed an Albuquerque Academy student during a drive-by shooting last year at a house party on the West Side.
Isaiah Espinosa was charged Friday with an open count of murder, shooting at an occupied dwelling and other charges in the Dec. 18 death of Jada Gonzales, 18.
Espinosa’s alleged accomplices Jesse Parra, 19, and Cruz Medina, 16, were arrested and charged in January.
A warrant has been issued for Espinosa’s arrest.
Video handed over by Parra’s lawyer shows Espinosa firing an AK-style pistol at the house — the muzzle flash illuminating his face, according to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court. The complaint includes a screenshot of the video and pictures purportedly showing Espinosa surrounded by guns, including the alleged murder weapon.
Gonzales’ homicide was one of several slayings that have played out at Albuquerque-area parties in recent years.
It was early in the morning when bullets pierced the walls of a home in the 5200 block of La Bajada NW, near Pat Hurley Park. Gonzales and dozens of others were inside and she was fatally struck in the torso by a bullet.
Police said a group of young men showed up to the party waving guns and were asked to leave before gunfire erupted from outside, according to the complaint. Parra was linked to the homicide — and two other shootings — through bullet casings found at the scene and in his car.
Police said Medina was arrested on Jan. 10 in an unrelated case and told police he tried to fire at the home after being kicked out but his gun jammed.
After Parra’s arrest he told his mother in a jail call that Medina shot in the air and Espinosa is the one who “killed her,” adding that there is video, according to the complaint. Parra’s lawyer sent an email to prosecutors with a video attached.
Police said the video showed Espinosa fire an AK-style pistol out the window — apparently at the home where Gonzales was shot. Detectives found Instagram messages where Espinosa was trying to trade the alleged murder weapon the day after the homicide.
Detectives used Espinosa’s school photo from West Mesa High School to identify him in the video and photos, including those taken at the party before the shooting.
