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Albuquerque man sentenced to 12 years in killing
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A judge on Monday handed a 12-year prison sentence to Isaich Roger Lujan, who prosecutors said fatally shot a man who sent a sexually explicit photo to Lujan’s girlfriend.
Lujan, 44, pleaded guilty Monday to second-degree murder in the April 15, 2023, shooting death of 38-year-old Nathan Barela.
Under the terms of the plea agreement, 2nd Judicial District Judge Jennifer Wernersbach sentenced Lujan as a serious violent offender, which requires him to serve at least 85% of his 12-year sentence.
The events that led to Barela’s killing began when he texted an “inappropriate” photo of himself to a woman who had been dating Lujan on-and-off for about five years, according to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court.
According to the complaint, the woman who reported the shooting told police that Barela had texted her an inappropriate photo earlier that day. Lujan took the woman’s phone and began replying to Barela, inviting Barela to meet the woman at the apartment complex.
The woman sat in in the passenger’s seat of Barela’s car and the two spoke for a few minutes before Lujan approached the vehicle, she told police. Lujan reached into the passenger window holding a handgun, the complaint said.
Lujan held the gun for about 30 seconds before firing a single shot, it said. Lujan and the woman drove from the complex in Lujan’s car.
The woman told police she later “tuck and rolled” out of Lujan’s vehicle and went to a Costco to meet a police officer.
