Man sentenced to life plus 12 years in 2022 shotgun killing

A judge on Monday sentenced Derrik Bonner to life plus 12 years in prison for fatally shooting a man in the back after breaking into a Northeast Albuquerque apartment in 2022.

Bonner, 31, was convicted by a jury in November of first-degree murder and other crimes in the shotgun shooting death of 60-year-old David Salazar.

District Judge Lucy Solimon noted Monday that Bonner and two co-defendants forced their way into Salazar’s apartment armed with a shotgun and a can of Mace.

“Nothing good is going to come of that,” Solimon told Bonner at sentencing. “I don’t think you are a monster, but I think that what you all did that day was monstrous.”

Prosecutors told jurors that Bonner recruited his two co-defendants to find and recover property that he believed had been taken from him.

None of Bonner’s property was found at Salazar’s residence at Copper Ridge Apartments, near Copper and Tramway NE.

Prosecutors alleged that Bonner and Salazar argued and fought before Bonner shot Salazar in the back.

Bonner spoke briefly at his sentencing hearing and asked the judge for leniency. “I want to send my condolences to the Salazar family,” he said.

Bonner had faced a maximum sentence of life plus 24 years in prison. A life sentence requires Bonner to serve at least 30 years before he becomes eligible for parole.

At Bonner’s sentencing hearing, attorneys argued about the identify of the person who fired the shot that killed Salazar.

Bonner’s attorney, Ashley Reymore-Cloud, acknowledged that Bonner had brought a shotgun into Salazar’s apartment but said he did not fire the fatal shot into Salazar’s back.

“We are here today because he took a gun there, but he is not the shooter,” Reymore-Cloud said.

Solimon said that jurors were convinced that Bonner himself fired the shot that killed Salazar.

Both of Bonner’s co-defendants have reached plea agreements with prosecutors.

Maria Acosta, 45, was sentenced in February to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to two counts each of aggravated burglary and conspiracy to commit aggravated burglary.

Dustin Smith, 34, pleaded guilty last year to aggravated burglary and a drug charge and faces up to 15 years in prison at a sentencing hearing scheduled for June 10 before Judge David Murphy.

Both Smith and Acosta admitted in their plea agreements that they were with Bonner when the three forced their way into Salazar’s apartment. Bonner was armed with a shotgun, Smith with an ax handle and Acosta with a can of Mace spray, according to the plea agreements.

Prosecutors said the three also broke into a woman’s Albuquerque apartment before they drove to Salazar’s residence.

Jurors also found Bonner guilty of two counts each of aggravated burglary and conspiracy to commit aggravated burglary.

Family members said Monday that Salazar was a retired traffic engineer who struggled with drug addiction.

“He was a person who was loved by his family,” Salazar’s sister, Kathy Kelly, said at the hearing. “He had a successful career with the city of Albuquerque, and he had friends and colleagues who grieve for him.”