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Jury requests more time in massage parlor worker murder trial
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After more than eight hours, a jury on Monday requested more time to deliberate in the trial of a 21-year-old man accused of fatally shooting a massage parlor worker in 2022.
Jorge Rivera-Ramirez, 21, of Albuquerque is charged with an open count of murder, kidnapping, tampering with evidence, armed robbery and conspiracy to commit armed robbery in the Jan. 24, 2022 death of 45-year-old Sihui Fang at a massage parlor in Northeast Albuquerque.
The jury went into deliberations at about 9 a.m. Monday. Just after 5 p.m., the jury informed Second Judicial District Judge Brett Loveless that it requested a recess to Tuesday morning to continue deliberating the murder charge.
The trial for Rivera-Ramirez's co-defendant, Juan Carlos Hernandez, is scheduled for August, according to court records.
On Jan. 24, 2022, police said surveillance on Fang's phone showed a man later identified as Rivera-Ramirez enter the parlor and pay her for a massage. He then followed her into a room her at gunpoint to open the front door for an accomplice, later identified as Hernandez. She tried to run away then the men forced her back into the parlor.
According to police, the men dragged Fung by the hair to the back office when the video cut out. Police said detectives believe Fang gave the men money before she got a gun and shot Rivera-Ramirez.
Police said through video and physical evidence Rivera-Ramirez ran into another room before shooting back at Fang. According to a criminal complaint filed at Metropolitan Court, she had been shot by Rivera-Ramirez and Hernandez 10 times.
