Albuquerque man charged in 2019 fatal shooting

A 24-year-old is accused of shooting and killing a man in 2019 after he asked to buy methamphetamines from the victim in Southeast Albuquerque.

Mylin Bill is charged with an open count of murder in the shooting death of 43-year-old Nathan Salcido. He was arrested and booked into the Metropolitan Detention Center on Wednesday. He does not yet have an attorney.

“Shooting and killing someone from your vehicle is extremely reckless and dangerous behavior that threatens the safety of the entire community,” according to a motion to detain Bill until trial. “Defendant killed Salcido in cold blood and there is absolutely no justification for his actions.”

An obituary online states that Salcido was a “peacemaker” who enjoyed spending time with his family and enjoying fishing and football.

Police were dispatched on Oct. 23, 2019, to Acoma and Madeira SE around 6:20 a.m. after receiving a call from a woman who said her boyfriend had been shot in the arm, according to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court. 

The woman told officers she and Salcido were walking when a man — later identified as Bill — drove up and asked the couple if they had meth to sell him, the complaint states. 

“His eyes were all bugged out and he was like, ‘Can you get me some shards or what?’” the woman reportedly told police.

She told officers they said no and asked if he was a police officer before Bill drove away. He made a U-turn and drove toward them, stating “I’ll show you, cop," before he opened fire, striking Salcido at least once, according to the complaint. 

Salcido was taken to a hospital, where he died of his injuries. 

Officers issued a news release to ask for any information on the shooting and three days later, a woman called police and said she believed the vehicle Bill was driving was hers, the complaint states.

The vehicle had been stolen less than half a mile away from where Salcido was shot, police said.

The vehicle had also been involved in a chase with law enforcement one day after Salcido’s death, according to the complaint. The chase ended in a crash and everyone in the car fled and no arrests were made.

Officers searched two cellphones recovered from the stolen vehicle and found messages from the day of the shooting that mentioned Bill. In December 2020, police spoke with Bill, who was behind bars at MDC for an unrelated drive-by shooting.

Bill told officers he did not recognize the car, did not remember being chased by police in the vehicle and denied being in the vehicle the day of the shooting, the complaint states.

Police obtained records of Bill’s jail calls in which he talked about the shooting and said, “It’s just a matter of time before they are gonna be like ‘it’s (Bill) that did it’ you know what I mean,” according to the complaint.

A cellmate told police that Bill said he had shot at someone and was not sure if the person had survived, the complaint states. The cellmate said Bill told them he wasn’t sure if he was going to be charged but if he did, “He might go down for a long time.” 

The case went cold until 2025, when police reviewed social media accounts and found videos that showed Bill was in the stolen vehicle used before and after the 2019 shooting, according to the complaint.

Officers said in the complaint that due to a lack of an alibi and conflicting statements, they believed Bill was at the scene of Salcido’s death.

Nakayla McClelland covers crime and breaking news. Reach her at nmcclelland@abqjournal.com or at 505-823-3857.