Prosecutor: Man fatally shot in 2021 conflict likely killed by his own gun

An Albuquerque man fatally shot in the head in 2021 may have been killed with his own firearm, leading to a decision by prosecutors to drop a murder charge against Jesse Castellano’s alleged killer, a prosecutor said this week.

Miguel Gomez, 30, who was initially charged with first-degree murder in Castellano’s death, may have turned Castellano’s own weapon against him during a struggle, Assistant Deputy Attorney Christine Jablonsky told a judge Wednesday.

The circumstances surrounding Castellano’s death remain murky, Jablonsky told 2nd Judicial District Judge Stan Whitaker. The only witness to the killing has severe mental illness and “is not a reliable witness,” she said.

“My concern as a prosecutor, ethically, is standing before a jury and stating facts that I can’t say definitively,” Jablonsky said.

Gomez pleaded guilty Wednesday to a single count of being a felon in possession of a firearm and faces up to 11 years in prison. His sentencing hearing has not been scheduled.

Albuquerque police found 29-year-old Castellano lying in the street with a gunshot wound to his temple in the 400 block of 60th SW on Dec. 19, 2021. He died at the scene.

Castellano was standing outside the driver’s side window of Gomez’s vehicle when he was fatally shot, Jablonsky said. The two men were apparently arguing about payment for a vehicle, she said. Gomez drove from the scene after the shooting.

Investigators found that “Mr. Castellano’s DNA was a significant contribution to the firearm that ultimately led to his death,” Jablonsky said. Police later found the weapon in Gomez’s vehicle, she said.

Two gunshots were fired during the encounter, she said. One round was found in the center console of Gomez’s vehicle and the other struck Castellano.

“Mr. Castellano may have pulled out a firearm” and fired a shot into Gomez’s vehicle, Jablonsky said. During a struggle that followed, “that firearm ended up against Mr. Castellano’s head and it was discharged. It’s possible that (Gomez) believed he was acting in self defense at that time.”

Gomez’s attorney, Frederick Jones, said Gomez never had possession of the firearm that killed Castellano.

“The firearm always remained in the hands of Mr. Castellano,” Jones said in a phone interview Thursday. “The firearm was discharged as they were struggling over it, and that projectile ended up causing the death of Mr. Castellano.”

After he was shot, Castellano dropped the weapon into Gomez’s vehicle, where police later recovered it, Jones said.

The firearm that resulted in Gomez pleading guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm involved a second weapon that police later found in Gomez’s possession, he said.