Jury finds Izaiah Garcia guilty in Pokémon Go killing

A state district court jury on Thursday found Izaiah Garcia guilty of first-degree murder in the fatal shooting of a 21-year-old woman playing Pokémon Go with her boyfriend at a Northeast Albuquerque park in 2019.

Garcia, 23, faces life plus 23 years in prison for shooting Cayla Campos once in the head as she sped away in her car.

Second Judicial District Judge Joseph Montano has not scheduled Garcia’s sentencing hearing.

Campos’ father, Carl Campos, said the verdict will allow him and his family to move forward after the four-year legal ordeal.

“We are completely satisfied with this verdict,” Campos said moments after the judge read the verdicts late Thursday afternoon.

Campos said he has had difficulty finding a good reason to get out of bed most mornings since his daughter was killed.

“When you bury a child, that’s the way it is,” he said.

Jurors deliberated less than a day Thursday before finding Garcia guilty of seven felonies in all, including armed robbery, shooting at or from a motor vehicle, tampering with evidence and conspiracy.

“It’s a good day for Cayla and her family that they finally get justice,” said Assistant Attorney General John Duran, lead prosecutor in the case. “I’m pleased and relieved for Cayla’s family.”

Garcia showed little emotion Thursday as the judge read the list of guilty verdicts. He appeared somber, glancing at weeping family members as officers led him from the courtroom.

Duran told jurors on Wednesday that Garcia fired the fatal shots at Campos’ vehicle in the mistaken belief that he was shooting at a hated rival.

“He killed Cayla Campos intentionally, but he did so thinking it was somebody else,” Duran said in closing arguments.

Garcia’s attorney, Kelley Golightley, told jurors Wednesday that police had conducted a “sloppy investigation” that focused on Garcia and ignored his co-defendant, who testified against Garcia in exchange for a lenient plea deal.

Thursday’s verdict marked Garcia’s second murder conviction for fatally shooting an innocent bystander during the long-running feud.

Garcia was sentenced in March 2023 to life plus 2½ years in prison after a 2nd Judicial District Court jury convicted him of first-degree murder in another 2019 fatal shooting.

In that case, Garcia shot 17-year-old Sean Markey, a Sandia High School student, as Markey was waiting for a ride outside a school homecoming party on Sept. 29.

Prosecutors say they plan to ask Montano to stack the sentences, which would require Garcia to serve two back-to-back life sentences.

A single life sentence requires Garcia to serve at least 30 years in prison before he becomes eligible for parole.

Campos and her boyfriend were driving on a residential street when they drove up on an armed robbery beside Bianchetti Park, near Chelwood Park and Lomas NE.

Campos turned around and was attempting to drive away when she was shot in the head on Oct. 18, 2019.

Duran told jurors in closing arguments Wednesday that Garcia assumed that the approaching driver was a hated rival who had fled the scene in his SUV moments before.

Prosecutors allege that the intended target in both the Campos and Markey killings was Christian Mattock.

Jurors in 2021 found Garcia guilty of aggravated assault for shooting at Mattock at the scene of Markey’s killing.