Judge hands down five year sentence in fatal shooting of 15-year-old boy

An Albuquerque teenager was sentenced this week to five years in prison for firing into a crowded Halloween party in 2022 where a 15-year-old boy was fatally struck by gunfire.

Brayan Omar Castillo-Galindo, 19, pleaded no contest to second-degree murder earlier this year in the shooting death of Gibran Gomez-Martinez, who was fatally shot and then run over as people fled the chaotic scene in Southwest Albuquerque.

Second Judicial District Judge Jennifer Wernersbach sentenced Gomez-Martinez to 30 years in prison but suspended all but five years.

Gomez-Martinez’s attorney, Amy Williams, said the sentence reflects her client’s good behavior since he was released from custody in February 2024.

“In the juvenile justice system, rehabilitation is the primary goal,” Williams said Wednesday. “Reducing recidivism can’t be achieved unless we focus on rehabilitation. When someone is very young, that is something the court can and should focus on.”

Police responded shortly after midnight on Oct. 30, 2022, and found a chaotic scene with people fleeing a Halloween party at Gorilla’s Recycling Center in the 700 block of Old Coors SW.

Officers found Gomez-Martinez lying in the parking lot with a clown mask nearby that he had worn to the party.

Witnesses told police that fighting broke out at the party and everyone was told to get outside and cool down, according to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court. About 20 people formed a line at the door trying to leave the party when gunfire erupted outside, a witness said.

The deadly events were set in motion when a friend of Castillo-Galindo’s was threatened at the party by someone with a gun, prompting the three co-defendants to arm themselves and drive to the party, Williams said. Someone at the scene returned fire, she said.

Castillo-Galindo’s gun jammed after he fired one shot, and it remains unclear who fired the fatal shot, she said.

“Mr. Castillo-Galindo acknowledges that this incident wouldn’t have come about without his actions, and that’s why he took responsibility for it,” she said.

Isaiah Eloy Cruz and Gustavo Guerrero, both 19, each pleaded guilty late last year to charges of shooting at an occupied building and conspiracy in the shootings.

Prosecutors have agreed to a sentence of five years probation for each, according to their plea agreements. No sentencing hearing has been scheduled in either case.

Guerrero’s attorney, Lisa Torraco, said her client drove a pickup that the three youths used to drive to the party.

Guerrero had a “minor role” in the shooting, Torraco said Wednesday. “He drove to the party at the direction of the other kids,” she said.