By: ABQ RAW staff
POSTED: 02/27/2023 @ 5:00PM
Albuquerque, NM – A jury has reached a verdict of the three men accused of torturing and killing two Albuquerque teens from 2018. The jury found all three defendants guilty.Stephen Goldman Jr. (left), Julio Almentero (middle), and Jimmie Atkins (right) were all convicted of murder, kidnapping, armed robbery and tampering with evidence.
The victims, 15-year-old Collin Romero and 14-year-old Ahmed Lateef were found buried in Sandoval County, in December 2018. Collin was shot 9 times, Ahmed was shot 19 times and both victims were also reportedly stabbed, beaten and tortured in Albuquerque’s West Mesa, in an apparent drug deal that went horribly bad.
Collin Romero, 15
Ahmed Lateef, 14
According to the announcement from the DA’s office, each of the defendants was convicted of the following charges: Two counts of first degree murder-felony murder, two counts of kidnapping, one count of conspiracy to commit kidnapping, one count of armed robbery, one count of conspiracy to commit armed robbery, two counts of tampering with evidence and one count of conspiracy to commit tampering with evidence. Each of the defendants faces two life sentences, plus 19.5 years.
Also related to this case, on December 7, 2021, Anthony Aragon, 39 (at time of sentencing), plead guilty to two counts of tampering with evidence and a third count of conspiracy for helping bury the boy’s bodies in a remote area west of Rio Rancho. On January 24, 2022, a judge sentenced Anthony Aragon to six years in prison.
Anthony Aragon