By: ABQRAW staff
Posted: 8/1/2023 @ 10:00PM
Albuquerque, NM – APD’s director of communications Gilbert Gallegos has put out an update about one of last night’s murders. According to a criminal complaint and a prepared statement from Gallegos the victim 23-year-old Sydney Wilson had been searching for her stolen white Hyundai through a GPS app. When Wilson confronted the people inside her stolen car she was shot and killed.
APD Homicide detectives charged 13-year-old Marcos Barela with Monday’s fatal shooting of a woman who confronted him about her stolen vehicle that he was driving.
Officers in the Southwest Area Command responded to reports of a shooting shortly before 9 p.m. on Monday, July 31, 2023, at the Smith’s gas station near Central Ave. and Coors Blvd. S.W. The victim, 23-year-old Sydney Wilson, died at the scene from a gunshot wound.
Witnesses told officers that Wilson’s white Hyundai was stolen and she was attempting to locate the vehicle with the GPS on her phone. Several teen-agers were in the car Monday evening, which they knew to be stolen since about three days earlier. The teens said they stopped at one point and shoplifted several bottles of alcohol from a Walgreens in Southwest Albuquerque.
Wilson was driving another vehicle and tracked her stolen Hyundai to the area of the gas station. Wilson was on the phone with a friend at the time, and said she was going to confront the occupants inside the stolen vehicle.
As Wilson exited the vehicle she was driving, the driver of the white Hyundai drove forward and struck an unrelated black Mustang that was in front of her. The driver of the Hyundai attempted to flee, but crashed into a curb, resulting in the airbags to deploy disabling the Hyundai. Several people, including Marcos Barela who was sitting in the left rear passenger seat, exited the white Hyundai and started to walk away from the crash.
Wilson approached the car making statements about the vehicle. Witnesses said Barela retrieved a firearm from his waistband, pointed the gun at the white vehicle and fired 2-3 shots. At least one shot struck Wilson, killing her.
Detectives investigated the shooting through the night and identified Barela as the shooter. An arrest warrant was obtained, and APD detectives are currently searching for Barela.