Police arrests teen connected to 2023 fatal shooting in Southwest Albuquerque

A 17-year-old male was recently arrested and charged in the 2023 fatal shooting of Adrian Vallejos, 34, during an attempted auto theft.

Andres Pedroza is charged with an open count of murder, conspiracy, robbery, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and tampering with evidence.

Pedroza was booked into the Metropolitan Detention Center, Albuquerque Police Department spokesman Gilbert Gallegos said.

In May, a second suspect, Juanito Montoya, was charged with an open count of murder, robbery, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and tampering with evidence in the case.

According to a warrant affidavit filed at Metropolitan Court, police were able to identify Pedroza through social media and a photo taken during a July traffic stop.

At about 4 a.m., Dec. 16, the Albuquerque Police Department was dispatched to a call of a shooting in the 10100 block of Cartagena, near 98th and Gibson.

According to the warrant, when officers arrived, they found a man — later identified as Vallejos — had been shot in the stomach. He was taken to a local hospital where he died.

Police said Vallejos confronted a group of teens who were trying to steal his vehicle in his driveway. Vallejos pointed a firearm at them and told them to “get out of here” before multiple shots were fired and Vallejos fell to the ground before a white sedan fled.

The complaint states that within an hour police were told someone crashed the sedan, which was stolen the night before, into a wall a block away from the homicide. Officers say they found a drunk 16-year-old at a nearby gas station with a ski mask in his pocket.

Police said the teen told them he had been picked up the night before by some friends in a stolen white sedan. Detectives searched the teen’s social media and found messages from another teen that indicated they had stolen the car and given it to him to drive home.