Albuquerque teen pleads no contest to two murders in 2023

An Albuquerque teenager accused of fatally shooting two men in 2023, and admitting to one of the fatal shootings on Instagram, pleaded no contest to two murder charges on Monday.

Andres Herrera, 19, pleaded no contest in court to two counts of first-degree murder in the fall 2023 killing of Phillip Apodaca, 27, and the winter 2023 slaying of 19-year-old Damion Alday.

Herrera was a teenager during both shootings, but will be charged and sentenced as an adult, according to a statement from 2nd Judicial District Attorney Sam Bregman. Herrera faces the possibility of two life sentences.

The first murder occurred on Oct. 6, 2023, after officers responded to a shooting at the now-closed ReSource Brewery Co. on the 3100 block of Eubank NE, near Candelaria. Officers found Apodaca fatally injured with multiple gunshot wounds to the back, according to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court.

“Herrera was linked to the crime by his clothing and the car he was driving,” Bregman said in the statement.

On Dec. 27, 2023, Albuquerque police officers responded to a call of shots fired in Sundoro Park around 4:30 p.m. Officers arrived to find Alday dead on the ground with multiple gunshot wounds to the head, according to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court.

Video footage from the park showed Herrera and Alday getting out of their vehicles and arguing, the criminal complaint states. The two exchanged gunfire and Herrera walked up to Alday and shot him. Herrera returned to his vehicle to retrieve what officers believed was an assault rifle before shooting Alday multiple times.

Albuquerque police were able to track down Herrera with his license plate number, which revealed Herrera was connected to a shooting in November of 2023, the criminal complaint stated. In November, Herrera gave officers a fake name and told them he was the victim of a robbery.

Officers found an Instagram post of Herrera admitting he had shot Alday with a Glock firearm.

“I laid off the first shot shooting him somewhere where he dropped to the ground then started shooting back. After a bit he was screaming then stopped n I walked up to him shooting him in the head 5 times,” the complaint states the post read.

Herrera was arrested in a Southwest Albuquerque home three weeks after he shot and killed Alday and was booked at the Bernalillo County Juvenile Detention Center.