Third suspect in 2018 fatal shooting of Albuquerque man arrested

Another man connected to a 2018 fatal shooting in the West Side was arrested recently.

Brandon Mendez, 24, of Albuquerque is charged with an open count of murder in the March 16, 2018, death of Adrian Johnson, 42. Mendez is being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center. His attorney could not be reached for comment.

Police arrested Toure Britt, 25, on Sept. 27, while law enforcement in Arizona arrested Kevin Geier, 40. They are both charged with an open count of murder.

According to court records, Mendez was arrested Wednesday.

Prosecutors filed a motion to keep Mendez behind bars until trial, saying, that Mendez and Geier “were communicating prior to and after the murder.” According to a criminal complaint filed at Metropolitan Court, police — who were able to identify Mendez in a motor vehicle division photo — said the suspect was in a stolen vehicle at the time of the shooting before fleeing with Geier and Britt.

“It is clear that the defendant Brandon Mendez was at the scene of the homicide,” according to the motion. “He drove the vehicle away after the victim was shot and killed. He entered into a conspiracy with several others to terminate the life of the victim — something that might not have happened if he had acted alone. The inference is also clear that the defendant knew that the plan was to kill the victim.”

At 6:50 p.m. March 16, 2018, the Albuquerque Police Department responded to a call of a homicide in the 2600 block of Americare Court NW, near Coors. The complaint states that when officers arrived, they saw a man — later identified as Johnson — lying in a pool of blood in a parking lot. The Office of the Medical Investigator told police Johnson was shot in the head.

Witnesses told officers they heard two gunshots and saw a Ford Excursion with a Mexico license plate, which police said was stolen. Officers later found the vehicle torched in the mesas west of Rio Rancho.

The owner of the SUV told police the vehicle had been stolen from outside his workplace and had a revolver inside at the time, according to the complaint. Detectives followed leads until November 2019, when a man in jail told police he knew who killed Johnson. Police said the inmate wanted a deal for lesser punishment on his criminal case in exchange for cooperation in solving Johnson’s homicide. But no deal was made.

No other investigative work is documented until this May, when that same inmate — locked up on an auto theft charge — again offered detectives information for a deal, according to the complaint. Detectives sat down with him after verifying details with other witnesses and through phone records.

The complaint states the inmate told police that a third person, “possibly named Brandon,” stayed in the car during the shooting.

Police said the inmate told them it all began when Johnson asked Geier and Britt to back him up in a fight. However, the inmate told police that Geier and Britt’s plan “was to kill Adrian instead.” He told police he was with Britt and Geier when they took Johnson in the stolen SUV to the back of an apartment complex and shot Johnson, according to the complaint.

According to the complaint, in a March 23, 2018, Mendez and Geier exchanged text messages.

“At toures,” Mendez said.

“Hell ya and I’m in pain man,” Geier replied.