Police identify 5-year-old fatal shooting victim

Albuquerque police have identified the 5-year-old girl shot and killed early Sunday as Galilea Samaniego.

The child was sleeping in a mobile home in the 2700 block of Paseo del Canto SW when bullets were fired into the residence just before 6 a.m. Sunday.

Detectives determined that the girl didn’t live at the home, and she was sleeping in an area of the trailer facing the street when she was shot.

According to the Albuquerque Police Department, at least one bullet hit the child, and an officer arriving on the scene soon after the shooting attempted life-saving measures. She was transported to a hospital and died soon after.

Police said late Monday they had recovered two Kia Souls “with potential ties” to the homicide.

The department earlier in the day released images of two vehicles, saying they had been seen in the area at the time of the shooting.

“While we can’t go into the circumstances of the recovered vehicles, we have reason to believe they may be connected to the drive-by shooting that took the life of an innocent, 5-year-old girl,” Chief Harold Medina said in a news release.

He encouraged anyone with information on the case to contact authorities.

“We also believe several people have information that can help our detectives with this investigation,” Medina said. “We urge those individuals to come forward and do the right thing.”