Man accused of gunning down transgender woman in NE ABQ

An Arizona man was arrested last week in connection with the 2021 fatal shooting of a transgender woman in Northeast Albuquerque.

Eric Montano, 33, of Sacaton, Arizona, is charged with an open count of murder in the Jan. 18, 2021, shooting death of David Gracia Dominguez, 42, who went by the name of Chilendrina.

Montano was arrested Feb. 19, according to court records. He is being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center. His attorney declined to comment.

Albuquerque Metro Crime Stoppers received a tip identifying Montano through social media, according to a criminal complaint filed in Metro Court.

Prosecutors filed a motion to keep Montano behind bars, saying “he used a firearm to kill within minutes of his meeting with the victim.”

“It borders on a random killing,” according to the motion.

At 6:16 a.m. Jan. 18, 2021, the Albuquerque Police Department responded to a call of shots fired in the 100 block of Rhode Island NE, near Central. The caller told dispatch that their roommate and friend — later identified as Dominguez — was shot and appeared to be dead, according to the complaint.

The roommate told police they and Dominguez were putting on makeup when Dominguez asked if it was OK for a man to come over, the complaint states. After the man — later identified as Montano — arrived, the roommate told police Montano wanted to have sex with them, but the roommate rejected him, police said.

Shortly after, according to the complaint, the roommate told police Montano said he was going to get something from his vehicle. When he came back, the roommate told police they heard gunshots then hid under a pile of clothes in a closet and pretended to be dead, police said.

Less than an hour before the call of the shooting, the roommate told police the two sent flirtatious messages to men on Grindr “offering to trade sexual acts in exchange for illegal narcotics,” the complaint states.

One of the men they spoke with was Montano, who came to the apartment and told them he had meth, according to the complaint. When his request for sex was rejected, the roommate told police, Montano went to his vehicle, came back and shots were fired, police said.

The Office of the Medical Investigator said Dominguez was shot in the chest, according to the complaint.

Video surveillance from a nearby auto parts shop from Jan. 18 showed Montano entering an apartment and talking to someone before leaving, getting into his vehicle then re-entering the apartment where detectives said they saw “five muzzle flashes,” according to the complaint.

The roommate told police Montano was the same person the roommate communicated with on Grindr, the complaint states. On Jan. 21, detectives found Montano’s Grindr profile photo and matched it with his driver’s license photo, police said.

On Aug. 23, 2021, detectives received a tip from an anonymous person who identified the man as Montano and gave police screenshots from his Facebook page, which showed him wearing the same hat he wore in his Grindr profile picture, the complaint states.

Detectives said they also received a call from an attorney representing Montano’s son’s mother saying Montano was in New Mexico from October 2020 to January 2021, police said.

Four months earlier, on April 25, 2021, Montano’s mother told police Montano wanted to turn himself in, according to the complaint. He called police and told them he was arranging for transportation from Arizona to Albuquerque, but he never came, police said.