Two sentenced in 2022 mistaken-identity killing

Two teenagers were sentenced to lengthy prison terms this week for their roles in a 2022 shooting death at an Albuquerque convenience store described as a case of mistaken identity.

Both were among five youths, including three males and two females, arrested in the shooting death of 28-year-old Kayla Montaño in the parking lot of a Maverik gas station. The two sentence Friday are:

• Estevan Damian Lucero, 16, was sentenced to 22 years in prison after pleading guilty earlier this year to a single count of first-degree murder.
• Diamond Salazar, 21, was sentenced by District Judge Courtney Weaks to 19 years in prison.

Salazar pleaded guilty in August to second-degree murder and two counts of aggravated assault for her role in the attacks. Salazar reached the plea agreement midway through her trial on a charge of first-degree murder in Montaño’s killing.

Montaño was fatally shot moments after she, her fiancé, and several companions — including a 7-year-old child — pulled into Maverik to buy gas and snacks.

The group had planned later to visit Topgolf when they stopped at about 8:40 p.m. on March 25, 2022, at the Maverik gas station on Princeton NE near Comanche and Interstate 25.

Security video showed that as the group pulled up to a gas pump, three male gunmen hiding behind another gas pump appear to open fire on the SUV, according to the criminal complaint.

Montaño yelled, “go, go, go,” to her fiancé, the driver, who put the SUV in reverse but ran into a gas pump, the complaint said.

Prosecutors have said that Montaño was unknown to her attackers, who mistook Montaño and her companions for others involved in a robbery earlier that day.

Others arrested in connection with the killing are:

• Ty Ashton Gallegos, 18, pleaded guilty earlier this year to first-degree murder and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
• Adam Sedillo, 18, pleaded guilty in July to a single count of first-degree murder. His sentencing has not been scheduled.
• Prosecutors in August dismissed charges against a fifth co-defendant, Caprice Sicilia, 20, who testified in Salazar’s trial.