Suspect arrested in fatal shooting after drug deal in Albuquerque

A suspect has been arrested in the fatal shooting of a man after a drug deal Tuesday night in Northeast Albuquerque.

Juan Gonzalez, 65, of Albuquerque, is charged with an open count of murder and two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. He is being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center.

"That's not in his character," Gonzalez's ex-wife, Nicolasa Gonzalez, told the Journal. "He's a good dad. He always supports his kids. Something doesn't make sense to me."

In 2022, Gonzalez was arrested and charged with two counts of trafficking controlled substances, but the case was dismissed due to lack of evidence, according to court records.

Witnesses identified Gonzalez to police as the shooter, according to a motion prosecutors filed to keep Gonzalez jailed.

At 7:55 p.m., the Albuquerque Police Department responded to a call reporting a shooting in the 100 block of Rhode Island NE, just north of Central. A witness told police Walfrido Lopezrequi-Laserie, 41, had been shot in the stomach and was not breathing, according to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court.

Arriving officers found Lopezrequi-Laserie next to a car, and he was pronounced dead at the scene, the complaint states.

About an hour and a half earlier, a witness told police that Lopezrequi-Laserie and two others went to a motel in the 7400 block of East Central to buy drugs from a person known as "Pitufo," according to the complaint. Lopezrequi-Laserie punched Pitufo in the face before Pitufo's associate — Gonzalez — intervened in the fight, which was broken up, police said.

A witness told police he and four other people, including Lopezrequi-Laserie, then went home, where they saw Gonzalez get out of another vehicle, call out Lopezrequi-Laserie's name and shoot him, said Albuquerque Police Department spokesman Gilbert Gallegos. Gonzalez then pointed the firearm at witnesses before he drove off, police said.

"The defendant made up his mind that he would confront the defendant with the firearm," according to the motion filed by prosecutors. "He used the firearm to kill the victim. The defendant wasted very little time in acting."