Abq homicides now at 49

By Dan Klein

This is your weekly homicide update from ABQReport. As of May 8, 2021, Albuquerque has had 49 homicides. At this pace we will have a record shattering year by the time the mayoral election is held.

Speaking of the mayor, where is he? Still no public announcements regarding Albuquerque’s crime tsunami. This may be on purpose as it’s an election year and Mayor Tim Keller is doing all he can to distance himself from the horrific crime wave that has descended upon our city during his term. If Keller doesn’t address it, it doesn’t exist, right?

In the last week Albuquerque racked up two more murders, one at I-40 and 2nd street and the other a beating victim who died after being on life support.

Why is our list bigger than that of local media? We know the definition of “homicide” and therefore we count all of the deaths, including those determined as “justified,” that fall into that definition. Here are the homicides (including justified) that we count, that the mainstream media does not:

Two children killed by their drunk mothers on March 30, 2021

Mark Padilla, killed on January 9, 2021 (APD has not released any other details)

Ruben Parra, killed on February 2, 2021 (APD has not released any other details)

Claude Trevino, killed on February 20, 2021 by APD officers after trying to stab officers

Dominic Lueras, killed on March 19, 2021

Neil Green, killed on March 27, 2021.

Juan Cordova killed on April 16, 2021 by APD officers in Ventana Ranch

APD has said there is possibly another justified homicide, but it appears they haven’t made that decision as of yet.

A study should be done regarding these justified homicides. Are we seeing an increase in them in 2021? If so, why? (note to new APD Deputy Chief Kyle Hartsock, you need to look into this).

Speaking of APD’s newest DCOP, Hartsock held a press conference the other day to explain current homicide trends in Albuquerque. Earth shattering news that homicides are occurring at apartment complexes and motels. More breaking news: homicides happened when people were either involved in criminal behavior or domestic violence! And to think it’s 2021 and APD is just now figuring out that drugs, alcohol and being a criminal can get you murdered. Who knew?

Sir Robert Peel, the father of modern-day law enforcement knew, that way back in the 1800’s. The question has to be asked, what has APD been doing? Keller's hand-picked chief, Harold Medina, has been around APD for decades, yet this stuff is news?

Hartsock also announced a “new” detective academy at APD to help detectives better prepare for court and to help them solve cases. Except this isn’t new. In 2019 APD paid a retired homicide detective to instruct all detectives in exactly the same thing. A lot of taxpayer money was spent and possibly wasted because that training didn’t seem to help. Why?

Hartsock should look into this past training and figure out why APD detectives didn’t learn from it before he spends more taxpayer dollars to do the same thing today. And don’t forget, this is all happening under Medina and Keller. Medina was a deputy chief of police for the 2019 training and Keller was the mayor. They both need to be asking why taxpayers are having to fund another training session for APD detectives.

I wish Hartsock luck with his new position at APD. He is truly knowledgeable with investigations and maybe he can do what couldn’t be done in 2019. He just needs to do his APD research and know that what he is doing isn’t new. This is where success or failure will happen. Hartsock must figure out what went wrong in 2019 and make sure he does not repeat it.