Jury weighs conflicting accounts of 2022 shotgun shooting death

Jurors who began deliberating Tuesday in the trial of a man charged with the 2022 shooting death of Dustin Banteah must choose between two conflicting accounts of the killing.

Chistopher Wade, 32, who is on trial for first-degree murder and other charges, told jurors that he fatally shot Banteah in self-defense after the larger Banteah violently and repeatedly attacked him during a night of heavy drinking by both men.

Jurors will continue deliberations Wednesday. Wade’s trial began Sept. 11 in 2nd Judicial District Judge Lucy Solimon’s court.

Wade’s testimony contradicted that of a witness who told jurors he saw Wade raise a sawed-off shotgun and shoot the unarmed Banteah at close range as the two argued outside the apartment building.

The witness, Izaac Reyes-Ruiz, told jurors that he had tried to prevent the tragedy by speaking with Wade, who was a stranger to Reyes-Ruiz.

“I was trying to talk him out of whatever he was going through,” he said, recalling his brief conversation with Wade. “I was trying to tell him, ‘Hey man, God don’t want this for you.’ I thought he was going to come to some realization of what he was doing.”

But Wade appeared unresponsive, Reyes-Ruiz told jurors last week.

“It was as if I was talking to a wall,” he said. “Just no response. He didn’t even really look at me.”

In his testimony Monday, Wade denied speaking with Reyes-Ruiz prior to the shooting. Wade also faces felony charges of aggravated assault, two counts of tampering with evidence and attempt to bribe a witness.

911 call

Albuquerque police responded about 11:30 p.m. on June 9, 2022, to Sun Plaza Apartments near Montgomery and Jefferson NE in response to a 911 call from Reyes-Ruiz’s girlfriend, who reported that a neighbor had pointed a shotgun at her and was threatening to kill others.

The fatal gunshot is audible about 90 seconds into the 911 recording, which prosecutors played repeatedly for jurors. Police found Banteah lying in a grassy area with a gunshot wound to his chest. He died at the scene.

Wade told jurors he drove east on Interstate 40 until he ran out of gas. New Mexico State Police found Wade’s car abandoned near Santa Rosa. Albuquerque police arrested Ward about four days after the killing.

Reyes-Ruiz told jurors he watched the fatal shooting from the doorway of his apartment. The unarmed Banteah had his hands raised when Wade pointed the shotgun at his chest and fired, he said.

Wade’s attorney, Kelly Golightley, told jurors Tuesday that Banteah had been drinking heavily and lunged at Wade in the moments before he was shot.

“Dustin’s weapons are his hands,” Golightley said of Banteah. “Dustin comes charging down those steps at Chris (Wade) screaming “shoot me, kill me.” Banteah lunged at Wade, who reflexively raised the shotgun and fired, she said.

“Anybody who says that somebody who is unarmed is not a threat to you has never seen a victim of domestic violence.”

Assistant Deputy Prosecutor Christine Jablonsky argued Tuesday that Reyes-Ruiz’ testimony shows that Banteah’s killing was unprovoked.

Reyes-Ruiz testified that “at the point the gun was raised, Dustin (Banteah) had his hands up and his feet were stationary,” Jablonsky said in closing arguments. Banteah “wasn’t lunging at him.”

Temporary lodging

The day he was killed, Banteah had been kicked out of his home by his girlfriend and asked to stay at an apartment Wade shared with Banteah’s cousin, who was Wade’s girlfriend. In his testimony, Wade described Banteah as his friend.

Banteah was depressed and drinking heavily and became increasingly violent throughout the evening, Wade testified.

“The drinking wasn’t his happy self,” Wade said. “It was more of a depression state.” Wade and Banteah were both drinking beer and vodka shots, he said.

Banteah became angry after Wade removed a bottle of vodka, Wade testified. Banteah struck Wade in the head with an empty vodka bottle, he said.

“He jumped on top of me and started to choke me,” Wade told jurors. Wade said he retrieved a saw-off shotgun from a closet to defend himself.

The fight alerted the downstairs neighbors — Reyes-Ruiz and his girlfriend — who came upstairs to investigate. The couple found themselves in the middle of a heated argument between the two men.

Wade was holding a “homemade pipe shotgun” and threatening to shoot Banteah, who repeatedly told Wade, ‘shoot me,’ Reyes-Ruiz testified.

Reyes-Ruiz said he and his girlfriend feared for their safety and retreated down the stairs, followed closely by Wade and Banteah.

During the argument, the shotgun “fell apart,” when the barrel fell off the stock, Reyes-Ruiz testified. At that point, Reyes-Ruiz tried unsuccessfully to convince Wade to break off the argument.

Instead, Wade reassembled the shotgun, he said. “Once the gun was being put back together, I realized I had to get out of there,” Reyes-Ruiz told jurors.

Wade and Benteah continued their argument in the grass outside the apartment building, where Wade fatally shot Banteah, Reyes-Ruiz testified.

Prosecutors said Reyes-Ruiz’s testimony shows that Wade had made up his mind to kill Banteah.

“Remember Izaac’s testimony, saying he could see in Wade’s eyes that the defendant was not going to stop,” Jablonsky told jurors.