By: ABQRAW staff
POSTED: 01/01/2023 @ 9:05AM
UPDATED: 01/01/2023 @ 11:15AM (Statement from APD’s PIO below Apple Map)
The Albuquerque Police Department’s Homicide Unit are investigating an apparent homicide at Central Ave NE and Dallas St NE. The homicide call out reportedly happened around 3AM, but details as to what actually happened are extremely limited. We learned about this homicide because a tipster contacted us. When we arrived at 8:45AM, the scene was being cleaned up and dismantled.
We have learned that the first homicide of 2023 was a man who was beat to death by a group of people. The victim was apparently drug out of the convenience store located on the NW corner of Pennsylvania and Central and several people were seen beating him unmercifully. It is unclear what led up to the beating death. The man died on scene.
As of writing this, neither APD’s Director of Communications Gilbert Gallegos or any of APD’s PIOs have emailed the media about this homicide. This is the second time that APD has failed to contact the media in a timely manner about a recent homicide.
This is Albuquerque’s first homicide of 2023.
Apple Map of Central Ave NE and Dallas St NE
UPDATE
At 10:41AM, APD’s PIO released an email that said:
“Shortly before 5:00a.m. this morning, officers were dispatched to a male lying in the street at 7817 Central Ave. N.E. When officers arrived, the male was deceased and the Homicide Unit was called out to further investigate.
Details are limited at this time. More information will be released as it’s available.”
The information released by APD’s PIO about the actual time of the homicide conflicts with information received by ABQ RAW. We were told by one source that the homicide occurred around 3AM. Furthermore, in researching AFR’s PulsePoint dispatch logs (see below), AFR was dispatched to the area of Central Ave and Dallas St at 1:23AM, for a “medical emergency.” AFR did not clear this call until 1:53AM, which was 30 minutes later. In addition, around 1AM, an ABQ RAW staffer was at the swearing in for the new BCSO Sheriff, John Allen, when they overheard law enforcement discussing that APD already had their first homicide of 2023.
Based on other crime scenes, most crime scene processing and cleanup takes 6+ hours. If this homicide occurred at 5AM and the scene was cleared at 8:45AM, it would have been processed in 3:45-4 hours. It is more likely that this homicide happened closer to 1:20AM, based on numerous factors: 1) the PulsePoint dispatch logs from AFR for the area of Central Ave and Dallas St, which show a call at 1:23AM, 2) around 1AM on 1/1/2023, an ABQ RAW staffer was attending the BCSO Sheriff swearing in event when the staffer overheard law enforcement discussing APD’s first homicide of 2023, and 3) we received a tip that the homicide call out happened at 3AM, which simply means the homicide unit was activated around that time.
