Couple arrested in shooting death of man in Southeast Albuquerque

A man and his girlfriend were arrested at Villanueva State Park hours after the fatal shooting of a 75-year-old man in Southeast Albuquerque.

James Gonzales, 26, and Destiny Pacheco, 32, are each charged with an open count of murder, armed robbery, unlawful use of a bank card and auto theft.

Gonzales is also charged with resisting, evading or obstructing an officer.

Gonzales and Pacheco are being held at the Santa Fe County Adult Detention Facility.

At about 5 a.m. Sunday, the Albuquerque Police Department received a call of a shooting in the 1000 block of Valencia SE, near Ross and Anderson.

After arriving, they saw a man — later identified as Harry Velarde — lying on his back with a fatal gunshot wound to his right abdomen, according to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court.

The complaint states that Velarde’s girlfriend told police she had recently moved out of the apartment after an argument with Velarde over a rumor that he was a pedophile. She came back on Friday night asking for his forgiveness and found another woman — later identified as Pacheco — had been sleeping on the couch.

The girlfriend told police the woman came over to Velarde’s home early Sunday morning with another man, later identified as Gonzales, according to the complaint.

The complaint states that Gonzales, who was armed with a gun, told Velarde that Pacheco was his girlfriend and punched him. Gonzales told Velarde, “You are going to get robbed for being a child molester. ... Cooperate and you’ll be OK,” the complaint states.

Velarde’s girlfriend told police Velarde punched Gonzales and Gonzales shot him in the stomach. Gonzales and Pacheco then took Velarde’s wallet and his girlfriend’s cellphone and left, according to the complaint.

Police learned that Gonzales and Pacheco used Velarde’s bank cards at a gas station, Walmart and Wells Fargo, according to the court document. Albuquerque police and the New Mexico State Police followed the pair to Villanueva State Park, about 55 miles southeast of Santa Fe, where they jumped into the river before being arrested, the complaint states.

According to the complaint, a forensics test showed Gonzales had possessed the firearm used in the homicide.