2 people charged in May fatal shooting of Farmington woman in NE Albuquerque

Two people are being connected to a May fatal shooting of a 22-year-old Farmington woman.

D’Jali Smith, 24, is charged with an open count of murder, shooting at/from a vehicle (great bodily harm), two counts of felony possession of a controlled substance and being a felon in possession of a firearm. He is being held at the San Juan County Adult Detention Center. It is unclear if Smith has an attorney.

According to court records, Smith is facing unrelated aggravated battery with a deadly weapon charges for incidents in San Juan County.

The second suspect in the May shooting, Buck Harris, 24, of Albuquerque is charged with an open count of murder, conspiracy to commit murder, shooting at/from a vehicle (great bodily harm) and felony possession of a controlled substance.

Harris is being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center. His attorney could not be reached for comment.

According to a criminal complaint filed at Metropolitan Court, the Albuquerque Police Department was able to identify Harris through social media and a booking photo. Police said Harris identified Smith to them.

The shooting victim was Elora “Low” Mull, of Farmington, who, according to an online obituary, was a “source of joy and cheerfulness, always lighting up the room with her passionate spirit and warm heart.”

“Elora was more than cheerful; she embodied patience and understanding,” the obit said. “She believed in the strength of kindness and taught us tolerance.”

At 11:40 a.m. May 27, APD responded to a call of a homicide in the area of the 7200 block of Marble, near Louisiana and Lomas.

According to the complaint, when officers arrived, they saw a woman — later identified as Mull — dead inside a vehicle with gunshot wounds to the chest and face. Police also found a firearm underneath her leg and numerous firearm accessories and ammunition in the vehicle.

Earlier that morning, police said, Smith asked Harris to follow him to a hotel where Smith and Mull were going to rent a room. Harris told police after he and Smith parked near the hotel, Smith told him to “flip his vehicle around.”

The complaint states Harris told police he was parked across the street when Smith talked to Mull through her car window. Moments later, Harris told police he heard gunshots. Smith then entered Harris’ car holding the firearm and Harris fled.

Police said when they showed Smith’s booking photo to Harris, they asked him on a scale of 1-10 how confident he was that it was Smith whom he drove away from the scene. “Buck replied by stating ‘100,’” police said.

APD said a Farmington police detective told them Smith, Mull’s boyfriend, was upset with her because she was texting a man she saw while Smith was in prison.

According to the complaint, police later found ammo and a box for a similar handgun used in the shooting in Harris’ home. Harris told police the gun had been reported stolen in San Juan County. However, police said it conducted a National Crime Information Center check showing it had not been stolen.

Police “established that the defendant likely provided the firearm that Smith used in the homicide,” according to the motion.