Woman accused of ordering son to kill cousin's boyfriend in Southeast Albuquerque

An Albuquerque woman is accused of ordering her 17-year-old son to fatally shoot her cousin’s boyfriend Thursday night at an apartment in Southeast Albuquerque.

Munah Green, 44, and Rickey Rodgers are each charged with an open count of murder and conspiracy to commit murder in the death of Richard Powell, 32.

Green has been booked into the Metropolitan Detention Center, while Rodgers is behind bars at the Bernalillo County Juvenile Detention Center.

Powell’s girlfriend, who is Green’s cousin, told police she witnessed the shooting and identified Rodgers as the shooter and Green as the instigator, according to court records. Rodgers was on probation with an ankle monitor, and authorities were able to place him at the scene minutes before Powell was killed.

Prosecutors filed a motion to detain Green until trial, saying, “The taking of human life is among the most dangerous and extreme of criminal behaviors.”

“The court cannot craft conditions of release that will ensure public safety for this type of conduct,” according to the motion.

In 2015, Green’s other son Jaquise Lewis, 17, was fatally shot at a skate park in what police deemed self-defense, according to court records. In 2019, Green was arrested after police said she was driving drunk and with crack cocaine in her pocket and Rodgers, then 11, was in the vehicle. The case was dismissed for insufficient evidence.

Court records show that, less than two weeks ago, Green’s mother filed a restraining order against her, alleging Green was living on the streets, using drugs and had destroyed property. The mother said Green refused to go to rehab and wrote, “She’s not the same daughter I raised.”

Police responded around 9 p.m. to a shooting in the 500 block of Indiana SE, southwest of Zuni and Louisiana, according to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court. Officers found Powell dead from multiple gunshot wounds in the courtyard of an apartment complex.

Police said Powell’s girlfriend told them Green and Rodgers had showed up and began banging on the door and windows of the apartment, trying to get in. She said she called 911 and watched through the window as Powell walked up to the apartment and told them both “to go away.”

The girlfriend told police Green told Rodgers, “Get him son, shoot him,” and the teen pulled out a handgun and shot Powell once, then again, according to the complaint. She said as Powell struggled to get up, Rodgers walked up close and shot him “a bunch of times.”

Police said the girlfriend, Green’s cousin, told them she had kicked Green out of the apartment earlier in the day, and before leaving, Green said, “Should I go get a gun?”

“She said (Green) is homeless and uses methamphetamine daily, which makes her act crazy,” according to the complaint. “She previously blocked (Green’s) cell number ... but she shows up from time to time when she needs something.”