Two men charged in 2018 West Side shooting death

Two men were recently arrested in the fatal shooting of a man several years ago on Albuquerque’s West Side.

Police arrested Toure Britt, 25, on Sept. 27, and law enforcement in Arizona arrested Kevin Geier, 40. They are both charged with an open count of murder in the March 16, 2018, death of Adrian Johnson, 42.

Britt is being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center, while Geier is in custody in Arizona. Britt is being represented by the public defender’s office. It is unclear if Geier has an attorney.

According to an online obituary from 2018, Johnson “had a love for God and a love for life.”

“His smile and personality will be missed by many,” the obituary stated. “We are grateful for all the loving memories we have because of him.”

At 6:50 p.m. March 16, 2018, APD 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 to cooperate 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.

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

Police said “Kevin told (the witness), ‘I double-tapped him.’ Kevin told (him) he walked over and shot him again.”

Police said the inmate and other witnesses told them that, after the shooting, Geier torched the truck and lit his own legs on fire in the process. Detectives searched phone records and were able to find video of Geier showing off the burns on his legs.

Geier’s ex-wife told police she was with him when he dug a hole outside a Buffalo Wild Wings near Coors and Interstate 40 and buried a firearm used to kill Johnson, according to the complaint. Detectives searched for the gun but couldn’t find it.