Jurors acquit man of murder in ATM robbery killing

A man convicted in 2018 of second-degree murder in the killing of an Army veteran during a robbery at an Albuquerque ATM was acquitted by a jury Monday during his retrial on the same charge.

Matthew Chavez, 34, also was found not guilty Monday of voluntary manslaughter in the 2016 shooting death of 24-year-old Tyler Lackey. Jurors convicted Chavez on a pair of tampering charges.

District Judge Cindy Leos ordered Chavez released on Monday, sentencing him to six years in prison but giving him credit for time served since his August 2017 arrest.

Chavez’s 2018 conviction for second-degree murder was overturned on appeal, setting the stage for a retrial in Lackey’s killing, which began April 29.

Jurors apparently agreed with Chavez’s attorneys, who argued that Chavez fired three fatal gunshots in self-defense after Lackey drew a handgun and confronted Chavez during an attempted robbery.

Defense attorney Maxwell Pines said in closing arguments Friday that Lackey “lost his cool” after Chavez approached him from behind at an ATM on Gibson SE and demanded money.

Pines told jurors that Lackey became the aggressor when he drew a handgun, followed Chavez to his car and pointed a weapon at Chavez and his girlfriend.

Chavez “is not guilty because he reasonably acted in self-defense in this case,” Pines told jurors.

Prosecutors argued that Chavez initiated the confrontation by attempting to rob Lackey, who had a concealed-carry permit and drew a handgun to defend himself.

Chavez fired three fatal gunshots at Lackey as a “means of escape” after Lackey cornered Chavez in his car, Assistant Attorney General John Duran said in closing arguments.

Chavez then sped out of the parking lot of a pizza restaurant at Gibson and Yale SE and later set fire to the vehicle in an alley, Duran told jurors.

Chavez was overcome with emotion Monday and put his head down on the defense table after Leos read the verdicts.

Lackey’s family members, who attended throughout the trial in 2nd Judicial District Court, appeared distraught but declined to comment after the verdicts were read.

Jurors convicted Chavez of two felony counts of tampering with evidence and conspiracy to tamper with evidence.

Chavez’s case has a long and complex legal history.

Lackey was killed by multiple gunshots on Feb. 5, 2016, after making a cash withdrawal from an ATM on Gibson Boulevard.

Chavez was convicted in 2018 of second-degree murder and attempted armed robbery and sentenced to 23½ years in prison in Lackey’s killing.

In October 2021, the New Mexico Court of Appeals ruled that the district judge was wrong to reject Chavez’s request for an instruction that would have allowed the jury to consider a lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter.

Then-New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas filed a petition asking the New Mexico Supreme Court to review the decision. The state’s highest court last year rejected the petition, clearing the way for a retrial.

Chavez “was the one who started this whole thing by approaching Mr. Lackey at the ATM in the attempted robbery,” Duran told jurors. The attempted robbery led to a heated exchange between the men, he said.

“Mr. Lackey then responded in kind and with the amount of force that we feel was reasonable,” Duran told jurors.

Chavez’s attorneys responded that Lackey escalated the conflict by pointing a handgun at Chavez and his girlfriend and by firing the first shot, which struck the steering wheel of Chavez’s car.

“Even though Matthew Chavez wanted to get money from Lackey, he very clearly was not looking for any real trouble,” defense attorney Chelsea Van Deventer told jurors.

Chavez “had no intention of using his gun,” she said. “He used his gun only because he had been shot at.”