Two men convicted in 2023 shootings near Isotopes Park that killed 11-year-old boy

An emotional weeklong trial ended Friday when jurors convicted two men in a 2023 mistaken identity shooting outside Isotopes Park that killed an 11-year-old boy and paralyzed his cousin.

Jurors deliberated about two hours before finding Nathen Richard Garley, 22, and Jose Angel Romero, 24, guilty of first-degree murder and eight other felonies in the Sept. 6, 2023, killing that shocked Albuquerque and dominated headlines for weeks.

The first-degree murder convictions require each man to serve a minimum of 30 years in prison before being eligible for parole. Second Judicial District Judge Emeterio Rudolfo has not scheduled their sentencing hearings.

Prosecutors said in closing arguments Friday that Garley thought he was settling a score with a rival when he stood up in the sunroof of a Dodge Durango and fired 16 gunshots that ripped through a white Dodge Ram on Avenida Cesar Chavez SE, just west of University.

“I feel a lot of peace,” said Tatiana Villegas, 25, who was driving the Dodge Ram pickup and was struck by five gunshots that left her paralyzed. “God answered our prayers today.”

Villegas’ cousin, Froylan Villegas, was struck once in the head and was found dead in the front passenger seat of the family’s pickup.

Tatiana Villegas wept as she told jurors this week that she heard, “boom, boom,” and saw a man standing through the sunroof of a black SUV firing a rifle at her pickup.

Testifying in a wheelchair, Tatiana said the gunshots “felt like an electric shock in my body and I just remember not being able to move my legs and I couldn’t breathe.” She and at least 20 family members attended throughout the five-day trial.

Tatiana said she plans to travel to Guadalajara, Mexico, in a few weeks to continue physical therapy. “I know I’m going to get out of this chair,” she said.

Attorneys for Romero and Garley suggested to jurors on Friday that parties other than their clients were responsible for the shootings.

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham cited the shootings when she signed an executive order declaring a public health emergency in September 2023 that imposed a short-lived ban on publicly carrying firearms in Bernalillo County.

Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller applauded the verdicts Friday and praised the work of Albuquerque Police Department investigators.

“What happened in court won’t ease the pain of Froylan’s loss, but today some justice is being served for what happened that terrible day,” Keller said in a written statement. “Froylan’s family has shown such incredible strength through this nightmare, and while I know their journey isn’t over, I hope they can feel our entire community standing with them.”

APD Chief Harold Medina also cheered the verdicts.

“Even with this guilty verdict today, I don’t feel a sense of justice,” Medina said in a written statement. “But I am thankful for the prosecutors and proud of the outstanding work of our detectives, investigators, crime scene specialists and countless others who gave their all to this case.”

Prosecutor Lawrence Hansen said in closing arguments Friday that both Garley and Romero played essential roles in the shooting.

“Romero and Garley were acting together,” Hansen told jurors. The two “intended to kill and/or severe injure the occupants in that truck and succeeded in those intentions.”

The two men were motivated by anger at a man they encountered earlier at Isotopes Park and organized a “hunting party,” Hansen said. Romero drove the Dodge Durango with Garley in the front passenger seat and a third man in the back seat.

“Romero puts the shooter into position and Garley takes at least 16 shots, which results in 20 impacts to that truck,” Hansen said. “This doesn’t happen without Garley. This doesn’t happen without Romero. So you can’t have one without the other.”

Daniel Isaac Gomez, 28, a third co-defendant in the case charged with identical crimes as Garley and Romero, testified against his co-defendants Wednesday.

Prosecutor Collin Brennan said Gomez’s charges were separated from his co-defendants last week and the case against him is pending.

Garley’s attorney, Thomas Clark, insinuated Friday that Gomez may have been the gunman in the 2023 shooting.

“What if Nathen Garley isn’t the gunman?” Clark told jurors. “What if it’s Daniel Gomez?”

Clark said prosecutors had a powerful lever over Gomez, who is charged with first-degree murder and other crimes. “He expects that if he lays this at the feet of my client, he is going to walk,” he said.

Romero’s attorney, Keren Fenderson, placed responsibility for the shootings on Garley and argued that Romero, as the driver, didn’t intend for the shootings to occur.

“There was no deliberate intent to take the life of anyone that night, not on the part of Jose (Romero),” Fenderson said in closing arguments. She cited Gomez’s testimony that Romero did not believe the Villegas family truck was the vehicle they were seeking.

“If he knows that’s not the right truck, does it make sense that (Romero) would help, encourage, intend to just shoot some random truck that has no bearing on anything involving his life?” Fenderson said.