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Life sentence handed down in 2020 smoke shop killing
Published
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A judge on Thursday sentenced Roman Cerna to life in prison in the 2020 shooting death of a man outside an Albuquerque smoke shop.
A 2nd Judicial District Court jury in June convicted Cerna, 28, of first-degree murder in the killing of 23-year-old Chance Elkshoulder.
The sentence, handed down by Judge David Murphy, requires Cerna to serve at least 30 years in prison before he is eligible for parole.
Albuquerque police said Elkshoulder was fatally wounded by multiple gunshots on July 12, 2020, in the parking lot of the Dank Smoke Shop, near San Pedro and Kathryn SE.
Elkshoulder was fatally shot in front of his teenage sister, who had taken him to the shop to buy cigarettes, according to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court.
As Elkshoulder exited the store, a man in dark clothing called him over, the sister told police. Moments later, the man shot Elkshoulder, then got on a motorcycle and fled south on San Pedro, she said.
The sister’s account was supported by security video obtained by police.
Police didn’t identify a motive for the killing.
Cerna was identified as a suspect in early 2021 after video images were released through a Crime Stoppers bulletin, but little work was done on the investigation in 2021.
In February 2022, the detective originally assigned to the case left the homicide unit, and the investigation was reassigned, the complaint said.
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A witness who knew Cerna reviewed video images from the smoke shop and identified Cerna as the man in the images, it said.
Facebook messages reviewed by police showed that Cerna contacted friends in the middle of the night, shortly after the shooting.
