Judge hands down 18-year sentence in 2020 road-rage killing of a 15-year-old boy

An Albuquerque man was sentenced last week to 18 years in prison in a 2020 road rage shooting that killed a 15-year-old boy at a West Side intersection.

Kevin Metzgar, 22, who is currently serving a sentence for federal drug trafficking charges, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and other charges in the killing of Kyle Martinez near Central and Unser.

Metzgar also pleaded guilty to aggravated battery with a firearm and tampering with evidence in connection with the same incident, according to his plea agreement. He was sentenced Tuesday by 2nd Judicial District Judge Courtney Weaks.

Martinez was driving a black Ford Mustang on April 22, 2020, that exited Interstate 40 onto Unser NW when he and a passenger realized that a silver Audi was following them, according to a pre-trial detention motion filed in 2nd Judicial District Court.

Both cars stopped at a red light and words were exchanged between the occupants.

Metzgar brandished a micro Draco AK-47 semi-automatic pistol and fired multiple rounds into the Mustang, striking Martinez, the motion said. Martinez died at a hospital.

Metzgar was initially charged with first-degree murder in Martinez’s killing.

Metzgar argued that Martinez pointed a handgun at him at the intersection and that Metzgar fired in self-defense, said his attorney, Nicole Moss.

“We very seriously considered going to trial to present that,” Moss said Wednesday. “Because one of the indisputable facts in this case is the fact that when the Albuquerque Police Department responded to the shooting, they found a loaded handgun sitting right next to the driver’s seat of Mr. Martinez’s car.”

The dispute apparently stemmed from actions on the roadway that angered the drivers, she said.

In 2022, Metzgar pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Albuquerque to possession with intent to distribute more than 40 grams of fentanyl and possession of a firearm in connection with drug trafficking, federal court records show. U.S. District Judge Kea Riggs sentenced Metzgar at that time to 10 years in prison.

Metzgar’s state sentence will run concurrent to his federal sentence, meaning he will serve much of his state sentence while in federal custody, Moss said.

When Metzgar completes his federal sentence, he will be transferred to the New Mexico Corrections Department to serve the remainder of his state sentence, she said.