Suspect accused of killing friend in a 'jealous rage' in Southeast Albuquerque

A man allegedly kidnapped his girlfriend and gunned down his friend on June 21, believing the two were having an affair.

Jonathan Torres, 38, of Fruitland, is facing an open count of murder, kidnapping and eight other charges.

Officers and the U.S. Marshals Service arrested Torres in Southeast Albuquerque on Thursday evening and he was booked into the Metropolitan Detention Center, Albuquerque Police Department spokesperson Gilbert Gallegos said in a news release.

The victim, 41-year-old Orlando Atencio, was found fatally shot in the 1000 block of Valencia SE, north of Gibson, according to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court on Wednesday.

Atencio’s mother, Valerie, said it took hours for her son’s body to be removed from the scene.

“They let our son sit out there in the sun, everybody looking at him, and they couldn’t even clean up his blood from the parking lot,” Valerie Atencio said. “When people are gone like that, they’re not garbage. Cover them, give them some respect and dignity.”

The night of the shooting, officers were dispatched around midnight to the shooting and Atencio died at the scene, according to the complaint. A day later, officers got a call from a woman who said she was involved in the shooting and her ex-boyfriend, Torres, was responsible.

Police said the woman told them that, before the shooting, she met Torres at a park, where she was planning to “cut ties with him because they had recently broken up.”

The woman said she told Torres that Atencio — a childhood friend of Torres — had her vehicle, and Torres “became irate and accused her of cheating on him with (Atencio),” according to the complaint. Torres hit the woman and forced her to take him to the apartment complex where Atencio was staying.

Torres confronted Atencio and asked, “what’s up with you and my girl,” before shooting him, the complaint states. The woman told police she was in the vehicle at the time of the shooting.

Police said the woman told them she eventually got Torres to take her to her aunt’s house. The woman said Torres threatened to kill her before leaving her aunt’s apartment.