By: ABQRAW staff
Posted: 12/14/2023 @ 12:30PM
Albuquerque – 2nd Judicial District Attorney Sam Bregman is fed up with homeless violence and has put out a statement saying as much.“These Homeless Camps Need to Stop” – Bernalillo County District Attorney Sam Bregman Responds to the Murder of Another Homicide Victim at a Homeless Encampment in Albuquerque.
This week, Albuquerque Police Arrested Zachariah Riley for Wednesday’s stabbing death of a man during a dispute at a homeless encampment south of Downtown.
“The recent stabbing at an encampment for the unhoused is another example of how dangerous the encampments are, not only for this community but for the people who are in these encampments,” Bregman said.
Riley was booked overnight into the Metropolitan Detention Center on an open count of murder. The Bernalillo County District Attorney’s Office will prosecute this case to the fullest extent of the law.
This latest horrific crime happened the same week two people, in separate cases, were sentenced for their roles in the murders of homeless people on the streets of Albuquerque.
Tuesday, Anthony Gallegos was sentenced to 18 years in the Department of Corrections for the 2018 shooting of Ronnie Ross. Ross, who was homeless at the time of the crime, was shot more than a dozen times by Gallegos and a friend who bragged about the murder.
Also Tuesday, a judge sentenced Jeremy Garcia to 19 years in the Department of Corrections. In 2020, Garcia drove his truck onto the grass at Coronado Park and drove over Carlos Moody, killing him. Moody and his mother were staying at an encampment at the park. Moody pushed his mother out of the way before he was struck. In October, a jury convicted Garcia of the crimes.
“The amount of violent crime happening at these encampments is alarming. For the entire community’s safety, this has to stop,” Bregman said.