LCPD: Drug deal leads to deadly shooting; 2 charged with Murder
Police in Las Cruces arrested two suspects in connection to the shooting on University Avenue that claimed the life of a 21-year-old man.
Investigators charged Juan Galindo, 21, of the 5900 block of Moonview Road, and 19-year-old Matthew Sierra, of the 2300 block of Idaho Avenue, with Murder and Tampering with Evidence.
Police responded to the shooting shortly after 5 p.m. on the 400 block of east University Avenue and found 21-year-old Jose Adolfo De La Cruz suffering from a gunshot wound. Paramedics rushed De La Cruz to Mountainview Regional Medical Center, where he died shortly after arrival. Investigators believe De La Cruz was shot once in his back.
Investigators learned Galindo and Sierra allegedly wanted to buy acid and made arrangements with a mutual friend to meet De La Cruz to buy the hallucinogenic drug. The mutual friend, who police are not identifying but lives near where the shooting occurred, told investigators Galindo and Sierra agreed to meet De La Cruz in a parking lot of the nearby IHOP restaurant.
Galindo and Sierra arrived at about 4 p.m. and waited for De La Cruz. When De La Cruz arrived, the mutual friend tried to facilitate the transaction, police said.
Police learned the drug deal fell through and De La Cruz drove away. Galindo and Sierra allegedly followed in a Dodge Stratus driven by Sierra.
De La Cruz returned to the mutual friend’s home on University Avenue with Galindo and Sierra arriving shortly thereafter. Investigators say Galindo exited the Dodge Stratus armed with a handgun and fired several rounds into the trunk of De La Cruz’s car. Police said one of the rounds struck De La Cruz, sitting in the driver’s seat at the time.
Galindo and Sierra then fled the scene in the Dodge Stratus. Police interviewed several witnesses and obtained information that identified Galindo and Sierra as the suspects. The two suspects were located Tuesday evening at home and taken into custody.
Both were booked into the Dona Ana County Detention Center, where they both are initially being held without bond.
