Albuquerque mother charged in toddler's shooting death rearrested on shoplifting charge

Amillia Garcia walked out of her home to waiting officers last week holding the body of her 2-year-old son, a bullet hole in his chest. Police said she and others tried to hide evidence, including the gun that killed the boy.

Garcia, released to await trial in her son’s death, was arrested again Thursday for allegedly trying to shoplift a cupcake and fake eyelashes from a Walmart store and having a teenage girl help her steal.

She is charged with shoplifting $250 or less, a petty misdemeanor, and contributing to the delinquency of a minor, a fourth-degree felony. The teen she had with her was turned over to the state Children, Youth and Families Department.

Garcia’s attorney did not return a call for comment. She was booked into the Metropolitan Detention Center Thursday afternoon.

Prosecutors had filed a motion to detain Garcia, and several others, until trial in her son’s April 6 shooting death, but 2nd Judicial District Judge Bruce Fox denied the motion and noted that the shooting death of the child “appeared accidental” after loaded firearms were left out in the home, according to court records. Garcia was let out of jail April 10 on pretrial release and ordered to not break any laws.

On Thursday, officers responded around 12:20 p.m. to a reported shoplifting at the Walmart on Carlisle NE, just north of Menaul, according to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court. Police detained the alleged shoplifters, Garcia and a teenage girl.

Police said an employee told them they saw Garcia pass a box of fake eyelashes to the teen, who then opened the box and hid the lashes. The employee said loss prevention detained the pair after they passed the registers and found a chocolate cupcake hidden on Garcia.

Garcia told employees “she did not pay for the item,” the complaint states. Garcia refused to speak with police and asked for a lawyer.

Police said the total amount of the stolen items was $27.45.