Man sentence to life in killing of Uber Eats driver

An Albuquerque man convicted earlier this year in the 2024 fatal shooting of Uber Eats driver Steven Keliiaa was sentenced on Tuesday to life in prison.

A 2nd Judicial District Court jury found Francisco Garcia-Franco, 24, guilty in January of first-degree murder and shooting at a motor vehicle resulting in death in Keliiaa's killing. Garcia-Franco was sentenced on Tuesday by Judge Joseph Montano.

The life sentence requires Garcia-Franco to serve at least 30 years before he becomes eligible for parole.

Keliiaa, 53, was fatally struck by gunfire near Menaul and Dallas SE while he was driving west on Menaul, making a food delivery on Dec. 23, 2024, prosecutors wrote in a pretrial detention motion. Keliiaa's vehicle then crashed into a light pole. He died at the scene.

A police investigation found that a pickup truck arrived at the intersection moments earlier when a passenger exited the vehicle and fired the fatal gunshots.

Garcia-Franco apparently did not know Kaliiaa and prosecutors said they are unaware of a motive for the shooting.

An obituary described Keliiaa, a Hawaiian native, as “a loyal husband, loving father and caring grandfather” who often visited the Hawaiian islands. “He was a family man above all else and would do anything for his family and friends,” according to his obituary posted on the Trujillo Family Funeral Home website.

Police used an automated license plate reader to identify the owner of the pickup, which ultimately led to the arrest of Garcia-Franco and a second man, the complaint said.

Garcia-Franco's co-defendant, Javier Irgoyen, 24, pleaded guilty to a cocaine trafficking charge and was sentenced in December to nine years in prison.