Jury convicts a woman who handed a gun to her son in a fatal 2023 shooting

A jury on Thursday convicted Kristina Withrow of second-degree murder for handing her 18-year-old son a gun that he used to fatally shoot a homeless Albuquerque woman in 2023.

But jurors rejected the most serious charge of first-degree murder in a case in which her attorney highlighted the dangers of Withrow’s neighborhood near Zuni and San Mateo SE.

Withrow’s son, Kristian Crespin, now 19, pleaded guilty last year to second-degree murder in the April 3, 2023, shooting death of Monique Garcia. He was sentenced in September to 18 years in prison.

Jurors deliberated less than three hours Thursday before reaching the verdict following a four-day trial in 2nd Judicial District Court before Judge David Murphy.

Jurors also convicted Withrow of aggravated assault and tampering with evidence. Her sentencing hearing has not been scheduled.

Withrow’s attorney, Keren Fenderson, told jurors Thursday that Garcia had approached Withrow aggressively in a neighborhood where violence was a daily reality for residents.

“There were shootings and stabbings and killings and break-ins, just threats coming all the time,” Fenderson said in closing statements. Withrow had found Garcia on a neighbor’s property and ordered her to leave the area, she said.

“This woman was not only mouthing off at (Withrow), she was approaching her,” Fenderson told jurors. “Kristina (Withrow) said that this lady’s body language tells Kristina that this lady wants to fight.”

Prosecutors alleged that Withrow pointed a handgun at the unarmed woman, then handed it to her son, telling him to “put one next to her,” or fire a warning shot at the woman.

Prosecutor Ronald LoLordo played a recording of the three gunshots and told jurors that about four seconds passed between the first and third gunshots. LoLordo said the long pause suggests that the fatal shot was deliberate and considered.

LoLordo also told jurors that Withrow herself may have fired the fatal shot — an allegation Fenderson denied in her closing. No video exists of the shooting.

“This was a deliberate act, either by Kristina (Withrow) or her son,” LoLordo said. “This wasn’t an intent to scare. It was not rash or sudden.”

Albuquerque police responded to a report of a shooting at 12:40 p.m. on April 3, 2023, in the 500 block of Ortiz SE, where they found Garcia lying on a sidewalk with a gunshot wound to her chest. She died in a hospital the following day.

Withrow told police she was frightened by Garcia and grabbed her gun but handed it to Crespin because he was better at handling firearms, according to a criminal complaint filed in Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court.

Withrow testified in her own defense Wednesday, describing violent incidents she and her family had experienced prior to Garcia’s killing. In one incident, she and two children were caught in the crossfire of a fatal shootout, she said.

Withrow told jurors that violent incidents were a regular occurrence in the area around Zuni and San Mateo SE, where she lived in an apartment with her husband and five children.

“It felt like a constant state of fight or flight, like being in a war zone,” Withrow told jurors. The violence had left her traumatized and prompted her to carry a gun, she said.

Withrow also testified that she did not realize at first that Garcia had been shot because she turned and walked away before collapsing on the sidewalk.