APD arrests mother in fatal shooting of 2-year-old boy; feds to investigate, police say

A woman was arrested after the fatal shooting of her 2-year-old son in a Southeast Albuquerque apartment Sunday that she called an “accident.” Three others were also charged after allegedly removing the firearm from the home.

Amillia Garcia, 20, of Albuquerque is charged with child abuse resulting in death and tampering with evidence in the death of Leon Garcia.

Angel Morales, 22, of Albuquerque was charged with two counts of tampering with evidence while Angelica Lucero, 24, and Angel Cordova, 25, both of Albuquerque, were each charged with one count of tampering with evidence. Cordova was also charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm.

All four are being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is getting involved in the case, Albuquerque Police Department Chief Harold Medina said during a Monday news conference.

Medina also said Amillia Garcia may be charged under the Bennie Hargrove Gun Safety Act, where a person who negligently makes a firearm accessible to a minor is guilty of a fourth-degree felony, if it results in great bodily harm or death of another person.

Just before 3 p.m. Sunday, Albuquerque police responded to a call of a shooting in the 1900 block of Buena Vista, near Gibson.

When officers arrived, they saw Lucero leave an apartment carrying Leon Garcia with a gunshot wound to his chest, according to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court. First responders performed life-saving measures on the boy but were unsuccessful, police said.

Amillia Garcia told detectives she was in another room in the apartment when she heard a “loud bang,” APD spokesperson Gilbert Gallegos said in a news release. She went to the living room and found Leon Garcia with a gunshot wound to the chest, he said.

Amillia Garcia told police Leon Garcia had access to the firearm, though it is unknown who, if anyone, was with him at the time of the incident, Medina said. Amillia Garcia’s 1-year-old son was also home at the time, but he was not injured, Gallegos said.

Amillia Garcia told police the firearm was not at the apartment and she did not know where it was, adding that “it was an accident,” the complaint states.

Cordova told police after the shooting, he ran downstairs and saw an extended clip and blood near it, according to the complaint. He said after he left the apartment with a diaper bag, he opened it up and found two firearms — including one that had a “long magazine” — before going back and giving police the firearm, police said.

Cordova told police Garcia had wiped the gun and asked him to remove it from the apartment, according to the complaint. Garcia told police she bought the firearm for protection, Gallegos said.

According to police, Lucero said she previously told Garcia to keep the gun “somewhere away from the children.”

“I’ve been doing this job 30 years, (so) something could pop up next week that would change the whole outcome of this preliminary investigation and what we’ve learned,” Medina said, “but it is just heartbreaking that this young child lost their (life) so needlessly because of negligence by somebody with a firearm.”