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Albuquerque, NM (KKOB) – Albuquerque police have made another arrest in connection with the murder of a 17-year old during the sale of a firearm gone wrong in January.
17-year old Jesus Avila Gonzalez was arrested Monday for the murder of 17-year old Ethan Cruz in the parking lot of the Allsup’s at 9501 Gibson S.W. Police previously arrested Eduardo Huerta on Feb. 19, for his role in the fatal shooting.
APD homicide detectives determined that Gonzalez and Huerta arranged to sell a firearm to Cruz on the evening of January 20th. After exchanging the firearm for $1,000, Gonzalez and Huerta determined the money was fake, according to witnesses. The two took off and chased Cruz and in the process Gonzalez shot several rounds from a handgun into Cruz’s vehicle. Huerta denied to detectives that he had a gun, but an acquaintance told police that Huerta admitted to him that he fired a gun.
According to APD’s ShotSpotter system, 23 gunshots were fired at 6:54 p.m. in the area where the vehicles had stopped. When officers arrived at the scene, they found Cruz in the passenger’s seat with gunshot wounds to his head and leg and a female teen in the driver’s seat with gunshot wounds to her legs. Both victims were transported to the hospital where Cruz died as a result of his wounds. The 17-year-old girl survived.
Gonzalez is charged with an open count of murder, conspiracy, tampering with evidence, aggravated battery with great bodily harm, and shooting at or from a motor vehicle. He will be booked into the Juvenile Detention Center.
Homicide detectives used license plate readers to help identify the vehicle Gonzalez and Huerta were in at the time of the shooting and compare its location history to data and social media content obtained from Cruz’s phone and eventually identified Huerta as the driver.
