Suspect arrested five years after fatal stabbing at Coronado Park

A suspect is behind bars five years after the 2020 stabbing death of a homeless man at a Northwest Albuquerque park.

Julian Pena, 33, who is also listed as being homeless in court records, was arrested Wednesday and charged with an open count of murder and tampering with evidence in the death of 58-year-old Christopher Carroll.

He does not yet have an attorney.

The homicide happened at Coronado Park, which was one of Albuquerque's largest homeless encampments at the time, with roughly 120 people camping there, according to previous Journal reporting. The park was closed in 2022 after Mayor Tim Keller cited escalating crime and property conditions.

Carroll's stabbing went unsolved for five years after the detective on the case left the Homicide Unit and took the files with him, according to court records. In 2023 the detective was ordered to return the case files and, in 2025, it was reassigned to an officer in the cold case unit for review.

Within months, an arrest warrant was filed for Pena.

Prosecutors on Thursday filed a motion to keep Pena behind bars until trial, saying he "murdered a man with a knife for no reason, which is extremely violent and dangerous behavior."

Albuquerque police were dispatched around 8 p.m. May 26, 2020, to Coronado Park, at 303 McKnight NW, north of Downtown, where they found Carroll fatally stabbed, according to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police spoke with several witnesses, who reported that they heard a man fall to the ground with two stab wounds to the chest, the complaint states. Witnesses told police Pena — also known as "Q" — had been screaming in the park prior to Carroll being stabbed and had run from the area shortly after.

Police said one witness told them Pena had been involved in an argument or altercation with someone moments before officers arrived, according to the complaint. The witness, who said he had known Pena for years, described him as combative and struggling with “mental issues.”

Several individuals at the scene initially refused to give statements out of fear of retaliation from Pena, according to the complaint.

Two days later, officers returned to the park around 8 a.m. after they learned Pena had been spotted in the area. Police detained Pena and he denied any involvement in Carroll's death, the complaint states.

Police asked Pena if he would provide a DNA sample, but Pena "became irate" and said if he was not under arrest, he wanted to leave so he could "(expletive) people up" for saying he was involved in the stabbing, according to the complaint.

Officers issued Pena a criminal trespass notice — which prevented him from returning to Coronado Park — and said he was free to go because there was not enough evidence to connect him to the homicide, the complaint states. Around 1 p.m. the same day, Pena was arrested for trespassing after returning to the park.

On May 29, police spoke to additional witnesses , police said. A woman told police she knew it was Pena who was yelling at Carroll because he is "always yelling that he is going to kill people at the park," the complaint states.

The woman told police Carroll was walking away when Pena ran "full speed" at Carroll with something in his hands before he "shoved" Carroll in the chest, the complaint states.

A short time later, the woman told police, Pena returned to the park and told everyone to stay away from "the body and not to touch it," according to the complaint.

An officer attempted to issue an arrest warrant for Pena in June 2020, but an assistant district attorney denied it.

It is unclear why the warrant was denied, but the case then sat for several years. It was eventually reassigned to an officer in the cold case unit, who interviewed a witness who had not spoken with police.

The witness told police he saw Pena run after the stabbing and Pena said "If you love me, you'll forget my name and what you saw," the complaint states. The man told police the argument was money related.

A warrant was issued for Pena's arrest on Sept. 25 and, on Tuesday, Pena was arrested after he allegedly stole a bait car set up by the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office. Deputies used GPS data to track Pena to Cochiti SE, east of San Pedro, and pulled him over after disabling the bait car.