Woman charged in fatal shooting in Southeast Albuquerque

A woman is accused of fatally shooting her on-and-off boyfriend Thursday afternoon in Southeast Albuquerque.

Roberta Martinez, 29, is charged with an open count of murder in the death of Joseph Alvarez. She was booked into the Metropolitan Detention Center on Friday.

It is unclear if Martinez has an attorney.

Prosecutors filed a motion to detain Martinez until trial, saying Alvarez became “exasperated” with Martinez during an argument and she “without justification or excuse shot (him), not once but several times.”

“She pulled a weapon and within seconds, ended his life,” according to the motion.

Police responded around 5 p.m. to a shooting in the 1100 block of Palomas SE, near Gibson and San Mateo. Officers found Alvarez had been shot to death.

Martinez was crying on the sidewalk and told police, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to do it,” according to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court. A witness told police the couple had been loudly fighting in a vehicle when Alvarez got out and tried to “get away from the situation.”

Police said the witness told them Martinez shot Alvarez several times and, afterward, said, “He was trying to kill me.” Officers found a gun in Alvarez’s waistband, but the witness said they never saw a weapon in his hand.

Officers discovered Alvarez had been shot from behind, with bullets piercing his head and shoulder, according to the complaint.

Police said Martinez told them conflicting stories of how the shooting unfolded but told them Alvarez had beat her, pointed a gun at her and pistol-whipped her. Detectives said Martinez “did not appear to have any significant visible injuries... consistent with being pistol whipped.”

Martinez told police she pulled a gun “to scare” Alvarez, and he reached for his own gun, facing toward her, when she shot him “a single time,” according to the complaint. Detectives told Martinez that a witness said Alvarez’s hands were in the air when she shot him — and that he was shot from behind.

Police said Martinez then told them maybe she missed Alvarez with the first shot and he “turned around and went to leave” and she did not know why he had no gunshot wounds to the front of his body.