Albuquerque –
Detectives from the Albuquerque Police Department arrested 18-year-old Robert Rodriguez in connection with the April 2, 2025, murder of Michael Gallegos in the parking lot of the Barelas Community Center, just north of Downtown.
Police allege that Rodriguez fired the fatal shot that killed Gallegos, also 18, during a drug deal.
Investigators reviewed phone data and social media messages and concluded that Rodriguez arranged to meet Gallegos that night at the community center, located at 801 Barelas Rd. S.W.
Surveillance video captured Rodriguez arriving at the center in a silver BMW sedan at 10:44 p.m. and leaving a few minutes later. The criminal complaint states that the car was parked just south of the intersection of 7th St. and Stover Ave. S.W.
Gallegos arrived at 10:52 p.m. in a Dodge Charger. Minutes later, the video showed someone standing outside the driver’s side door of Gallegos’s vehicle. As the vehicle began moving forward, a gunshot was heard. The car accelerated rapidly and crashed into a curb on the north side of the parking lot.
Detectives later matched the BMW to Rodriguez and used phone and social media data to place him at the scene. Automated license plate readers tracked the BMW from his West Side home to the community center and back shortly after the shooting.
Rodriguez faces charges of open count of murder, shooting at or from a motor vehicle resulting in great bodily harm, and two counts of tampering with evidence in a homicide. Authorities booked Rodriguez into MDC on Wednesday, April 23 at 1:30 AM.