Albuquerque man accused of killing two women — less than a week apart

A man is accused of fatally shooting a woman on East Central less than a week after killing his ex-girlfriend at an apartment in Northeast Albuquerque.

Alexander Ortiz, 20, was charged Friday with an open count of murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and tampering with evidence in the Jan. 17 death of 25-year-old Nicole Maldonado.

Ortiz has been behind bars since Feb. 22, when he was arrested in the Jan. 11 fatal shooting of 23-year-old Alianna Farfan, his ex-girlfriend.

His attorney could not be reached.

Prosecutors have filed a motion to detain Ortiz in Farfan’s death, saying “there is no question (Ortiz) is very dangerous.”

“There were witnesses nearby and he didn’t care, it was his mission to kill (Farfan),” according to the motion. “When (Ortiz) has the notion that he can live his life this way, then nothing matters except what he believes is important to him. That makes him very capable of hurting anyone who gets in his way.”

Police said Maldonado was struck by a stray bullet when Ortiz sprayed gunfire at her boyfriend, seemingly over a sideways glance outside Adam Food Market, a convenience store notorious for open-air drug use.

An online obituary said Maldonado “enjoyed reading and drawing” and “loved animals.”

Maldonado’s mother wrote on the page that, born a 10-pound baby, Maldonado grew to a “very petite woman.”

“She was kind, friendly, compassionate (and) lovable,” the mother wrote. “My heart is broken she is my baby and will forever be 25.”

Police responded sometime before 5:45 p.m. to the shooting outside Adam Food Market on Central, near Pennsylvania. Officers found Maldonado shot near a vehicle and her boyfriend attempting CPR.

The boyfriend told police a man walked up and said, “What the (expletive) are you looking at?” and he punched the man, according to the complaint. He said the man pulled out a handgun with an extended magazine and fired three shots.

Police said the bullets went into the vehicle Maldonado was sitting in and she was struck at least once. Surveillance video caught the shooting and three .40-caliber bullet casings were found at the scene.

The suspect is seen in the video walking away from the store, south on Pennsylvania, according to the complaint. Crime Stoppers tips came in alleging the shooter was Ortiz, who was already a suspect in Farfan’s killing days earlier.

Ortiz was arrested on Feb. 22 at an apartment a few blocks south of the convenience store.

Police said they found parts of a .40-caliber handgun, a drum and extended magazine and ammunition hidden around the apartment, within plumbing pipes and holes in the wall.

After the arrest, according to the complaint, Ortiz called his father from jail and told him he had hidden cellphone parts in a leaf blower.

Police said detectives matched Ortiz’s appearance with the suspect’s in video footage and discovered his phone was in the area at the time of the homicide.