Santa Fe man charged in neighbor's death after gunshot apparently goes through apartment wall

A man was arrested for allegedly shooting and killing his neighbor after he said his gun accidentally discharged as he was cleaning it in an apartment in Santa Fe.

Kristjan Lucano, 30, is charged with one count of involuntary manslaughter, tampering with evidence and negligent use of a deadly weapon in the death of 54-year-old Jose De Jesus Eguia Rosas.

Lucano was arrested and booked into the Santa Fe County Detention Center on Thursday and does not yet have an attorney.

Santa Fe police were dispatched to the Vista Alegre Apartment Homes on Wednesday after receiving reports of a suspicious death, according to a probable cause statement filed in Santa Fe Magistrate Court.

An employee at the complex told police he entered the apartment and found Rosas lying on his kitchen floor with a gunshot wound to the head, the statement said. Rosas was pronounced dead at the scene.

Officers searched the apartment but did not find a gun, according to the statement. 

"During the search, detectives identified a circular perforation consistent with a bullet hole from the direction of the adjacent apartment," said Deputy Chief Benjamin Valdez, spokesperson for the Santa Fe Police Department, in a news release.

Police spoke with Rosas' neighbor, Lucano, who told them he was in his living room cleaning his gun Monday afternoon when it accidentally discharged, the statement said. 

"(Lucano) explained he typically keeps a round chambered and, while dismantling the firearm to clean it, he forgot to rack the slide to clear the chambered round," according to the statement. 

Lucano told officers he removed the magazine and pulled the trigger, which caused his gun to fire a bullet into the apartment next door, the statement said. He told police he knocked on Rosas' door, but no one answered, and he believed the apartment was unoccupied because he never saw anyone enter or exit.

Police asked Lucano what happened to the bullet casing and Lucano said he was never able to find it. Lucano told police to tell his girlfriend that he confessed and that "it was not the cat" and she would understand what that meant, according to the statement.

Officers spoke with Lucano's girlfriend, who said he had his finger on the trigger while cleaning the firearm, the statement said. 

She told police the two came up with a story about their cat having "zoomies" and getting its paw stuck in the trigger, which caused the gun to fire, officers wrote in the statement.

Nakayla McClelland covers crime and breaking news. Reach her at nmcclelland@abqjournal.com or at 505-823-3857.