A 13 year old boy is charged with murder in the shooting of an Albuquerque woman
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A middle school student has been charged with murder and other counts in the shooting of a woman who allegedly confronted him and other teens who were riding around in her vehicle, which had been stolen days earlier.
The boy, who recently turned 13, was booked into the Bernalillo County Juvenile Detention Center on Wednesday.
Prosecutors said they would seek to keep him in custody pending trial and that authorities were trying to determine how the 8th grader got the gun. The Associated Press does not generally identify juvenile crime suspects.
District Attorney Sam Bregman said the woman was killed because she asked the teens what they were doing in her stolen car.
“You bet we’re going to try and keep this teen in custody,” Bregman said in a statement.
A public defender was planning to talk with the teen after learning that he had turned himself in. The boy also was charged with tampering with evidence and unlawful possession of a handgun.
The shooting happened Monday night at a gas station on the city’s west side. Witnesses told police that the victim, identified as 23-year-old Sydney Wilson, had been trying to locate her stolen vehicle with the GPS on her phone.
Police said several teens were in the car and told police they stole several bottles of alcohol from a store.
According to a criminal complaint, the driver of the stolen car hit another vehicle and then crashed into a curb while trying to flee. The teens were starting to walk away when Wilson approached and asked why they were in her car. The complaint states that the 13-year-old boy, who had been in the rear passenger seat, pulled a gun and fired, hitting Wilson at least once.
Police found two shell casings at the scene and detained three teens, including one who was taken to a hospital due to intoxication.
