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Mistrial declared in 2021 beating, shooting death
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Jurors failed to reach a verdict last week in the trial of Shamon Pacheco in the 2021 beating and shooting death of 29-year-old Raymond Ortiz Jr.
Dsitrict Judge Lucy Solimon declared a mistrial on Friday after jurors split 10-2 in favor of convicting Pacheco, 34, on charges of first-degree murder, kidnapping and other charges, said Nancy Laflin, a spokeswoman for the 2nd Judicial District Attorney’s Office.
Prosecutors plan to retry Pacheco, Laflin said. No date for a new trial is scheduled.
Ortiz was killed because he owed money for drugs, prosecutors alleged in a pretrial detention motion.
Pacheco’s co-defendant, Christopher Takach, 41, pleaded guilty on July 28 to kidnapping and aggravated battery in connection with Ortiz’s killing, according to a plea agreement filed 2nd Judicial District Court.
Takach faces seven years in prison at a sentencing hearing scheduled Friday in Solimon’s court, according to the plea agreement. The most serious charge of first-degree murder was dismissed.
On June 20, 2021, the Albuquerque Police Department received a 911 call reporting that a man was being chased on foot by two men in the area of Chico and Pennsylvania NE, according to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court. The caller said two men were hitting and shooting the victim.
A witness told police that one of the men took out a handgun and gave it to another man who reportedly shot Ortiz Jr. multiple times, the complaint said. The attackers then ran away.
The Office of the Medical Investigator said Ortiz had been shot eight to 10 times, including once in the head, the complaint states.
