Woman describes drive-by shooting outside Isotopes Park that paralyzed her, killed boy

Tatiana Villegas sat in a wheelchair as she told jurors Tuesday she realized her family was under attack when she heard the sound of gunfire and saw a man standing through the sunroof of an SUV firing a rifle at her pickup.

Villegas was driving the family’s Dodge Ram west on Avenida Cesar Chavez when she heard “boom, boom,” she testified in the trial of two men charged in the shooting death of Villegas’ 11-year-old cousin.

“When I heard the booms, I felt like an electric shock in my body and I just remember not being able to move my legs and I couldn’t breathe,” said Villegas, 25, who wept as she described the attack. “I was just trying to focus on breathing.”

Multiple gunshots struck Villegas, injuring her spine and leaving her paralyzed, said Villegas, who testified in a wheelchair.

Another gunshot pierced the passenger window and fatally struck Froylan Villegas in the head.

Prosecutors alleged that Nathen Garley fired at least 14 gunshots at the Villegas’ Dodge Ram just minutes after four members of the Villegas family attended a baseball game at Isotopes Park in Southeast Albuquerque.

At a hospital, a doctor told Tatiana that she had been struck by five gunshots that damaged her spine, punctured her lung and broke several ribs, she testified. She later was moved to a patient room.

“I got what I thought was a heart attack because I got really bad anxiety,” she testified. “I couldn’t feel my legs, and I was all alone and I just wanted my parents.”

Froylan Villegas’ mother and her 3-month-old son were in the back seat of the pickup but were not struck by gunfire. Two gunshots penetrated the rear passenger door where the infant was strapped into a child’s seat, a witness testified Tuesday.

Garley, 22, and Jose Angel Romero, 24, the alleged driver of the black Dodge Durango, each are charged with first-degree murder and 13 other felonies in the Sept. 6, 2023, attack.

Attorneys for Romero and Garley told jurors in the opening statement Monday that the two men were not responsible for the shootings.

A third man charged in the attack, Daniel Isaac Gomez, 28, is expected to testify this week in the trial of his two co-defendants. Prosecutors say Gomez was riding in the back seat of the Dodge Durango during the attack.

The 2nd Judicial District Court trial is expected to continue through Friday before Judge Emeterio Rudolfo.

Garley’s attorney, Thomas Clark, told jurors Monday that the state’s case against the two men relies on the testimony of witnesses who have incentives to lie about the events.

Prosecutors told jurors this week that Garley fired 14 gunshots at the Villegas family in the mistaken belief that they were shooting at a man he had argued with earlier that evening at Isotopes Park.

That man also drove a white pickup but had departed Isotopes Park sometime before Garley and Romero spotted the Villegas family’s vehicle, prosecutors told jurors on Monday.

Jurors also viewed dramatic police lapel camera video Tuesday that showed Froylan Villegas dead in the front passenger seat as Tatiana Villegas fought for her life in the driver’s seat.

Tatiana repeatedly told Albuquerque police “I can’t move” and “I can’t breathe” as officers rendered first aid before medical personnel arrived, the video showed.

Before the shooting, Tatiana said she enjoyed traveling, riding horses and working out at the gym — all things she can’t do today. She also lost her job at an Albuquerque electronics firm because she can no longer sit for eight hours, she said.

Albuquerque Police Department officers testified that they responded to reports of gunfire and found the Villegas’ pickup on Avenida Cesar Chavez, just west of University. An officer testified that he found three gunshots in Tatiana Villegas’ chest, just below her right arm.