Son of lauded FBI agent charged in murder of 13-year-old in Downtown Albuquerque area

The son of an accomplished FBI agent is accused of shooting into a car full of teenagers and killing a 13-year-old boy earlier this year near Downtown Albuquerque.

Thomas Acee, 21, is charged with an open count of murder, aggravated assault and battery with a deadly weapon, shooting from a motor vehicle and tampering with evidence, among other charges, in the Aug. 18 death of Michael Tubb.

The Albuquerque Police Department said in a news release that investigators believe Acee fired the fatal shots from another vehicle that killed Tubb and injured a teenage girl inside the car. It is unclear from court filings if Tubb or someone else in the car was targeted or if the shooting was random.

Acee was booked into the Metropolitan Detention Center early Friday morning. His family declined to comment.

Thomas Acee is the son of FBI Special Agent Bryan Acee, a well-respected figure in law enforcement. Most notably, Acee was the lead agent in a sprawling case that largely dismantled the Syndicato de Nuevo Mexico, one of the state’s largest and most violent gangs.

In a recent search warrant affidavit, Bryan Acee said he has been with the FBI since 2009 and is currently assigned to the Albuquerque Violent Gang Task Force.

“I primarily investigate prison, street, and motorcycle gangs, as well as violent repeat offenders involved in federal drug and firearm related crimes,” he wrote in the affidavit.

This is not the first time his son has faced criminal charges.

In 2021, Thomas Acee was charged in the attempted robbery and shooting of a man at a Halloween party, but a jury found him not guilty last year, according to court records. In March, he was charged with DWI after allegedly crashing into a gate and being found with a gun in his car. The case was dismissed when University of New Mexico police failed to hand over evidence.

Many of the details of what led to the shooting that killed Tubb are unclear because the criminal complaint charging Acee is sealed.

Michael Flores, 21, the first to be charged in the case, was indicted by a grand jury on an open count of murder after he allegedly tried to sell the car used in the shooting over Facebook.

Officers responded around 3:30 a.m. to a shooting in the area of Fourth and Atlantic SW, and found Tubb and a teenage girl shot inside a bullet-riddled car. Tubb died at the scene and the girl was taken to a hospital.

Tubb’s friend told police he did not know who fired at them or why, and detectives used surveillance camera footage to identify the car as a specific model Lexus, according to court records. In September, police found the car being sold on Facebook and traced it to Flores.

Police say they searched Flores’ cellphone records and found his phone was in the area where Tubb was shot at the time of the homicide and then followed the same route as the one seen taken by the Lexus on various cameras.

Albuquerque police spokesman Gilbert Gallegos said, after Flores’ arrest, detectives “determined through investigation that Acee was with Flores on the night of the shooting.”

“Acee is accused of shooting several rounds at the car in which the victims were passengers,” Gallegos said.

Officers arrested Thomas Acee on Thursday after following him to the parking lot of Twin Peaks, a sports bar alongside Interstate 25. Acee was booked into MDC at 1:10 a.m.

Because of his familial ties, Acee is segregated to a cell by himself and is not allowed to be around other inmates.