Shoplifting arrest at Albuquerque Walmart turns up suspect in June homicide

A man who made headlines as a member of a teenage gang is now accused in a deadly double shooting last month in Southeast Albuquerque.

Jamil Lewis, 26, is charged with an open count of murder, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, tampering with evidence and possession of a firearm by a felon in the June 8 shooting that left Gerald Ibuado, 44, dead and Ibuado’s brother injured.

Lewis was arrested Monday after police say he tried to shoplift a holster — putting a gun in it and placing it in his waistband — inside a northeast Albuquerque Walmart.

Lewis was one of several teens charged in 2017 with racketeering, among other felonies, over a variety of crimes being committed by the group, who named themselves the “Get Hard Crew.”

Court records show Lewis was sentenced to probation in that case and, in 2018, was charged in a nonfatal shooting that was then dismissed by prosecutors. Lewis was sentenced to probation again after a drug arrest in 2019 but violated probation several times.

A probation officer wrote Lewis “struggled immensely” in a 2022 motion to revoke his probation.

“Lewis would benefit from an inpatient treatment facility, and is not a viable candidate for supervision,” according to the motion, which asked Lewis to serve out the rest of his sentence behind bars.

It is unclear when Lewis was released.

Prosecutors filed a motion to detain Lewis until trial in Ibuado’s death, saying “there was no basis for his actions.”

“He had a gun, and he decided to use it — twice,” according to the motion. “No member of the community is safe with the defendant at liberty.”

On June 8, sometime before 7:30 p.m., officers responded to a shooting near Central and Louisiana SE and found Gerald Ibuado dead and his brother injured, according to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court. Witnesses told police Ibuado and another man got into a fistfight when a third man opened fire, shooting both brothers.

Police said surveillance footage captured the shooter, who had “distinct” tattoos and was seen fleeing with the man who had been fighting Ibuado. Witnesses gave police conflicting identifications of the shooter until a man told detectives the group came to his apartment after the shooting.

The man told police Lewis was one of the men and police were able to identify him as the shooter due to having the same tattoos and “physical characteristics and hair style,” according to the complaint.

A warrant was issued for Lewis’ arrest on July 22.

On Monday police were called to the Walmart on Wyoming, near Indian School. Store security told police a man had placed a gun into a holster off the shelf and put both in his waistband.

Officers identified the man as Lewis and had to tackle the man and use force to get him into custody. Detectives found the gun in the aisles and fentanyl pills on Lewis before he was turned over to homicide detectives.

Police said Lewis told them “he did not purchase the firearm in a store because he knew he was a convicted felon.”