Underage Teen Charged in Killing at Westside Apartment

Albuquerque –

In a matter of a few days, another teen has been charged with murder in Albuquerque.

APD homicide detectives charged 17-year-old Librado Lovato for the fatal shooting of a man at a West Side apartment complex, located at 1919 Ladera Dr. N.W., late Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025.

Officers responded to reports of a shooting Thursday around 11:30 p.m. and located the deceased victim with a gunshot wound. They located what appeared to be a handgun next to him. Investigators later learned it was a BB gun that looked like a handgun.

The victim has not yet been identified. Surveillance video from a nearby apartment showed a person in a gray sweatpants, gray sweatshirt with a black fannypack worn across the chest, walking with a female in the parking lot of the apartment complex.

Two people can be heard on the recording, and at 11:19 p.m., gunshots were heard. The person with the gray sweatpants, gray sweatshirt and black slippers was seen running from the scene.

Detectives later viewed additional surveillance video from woman that showed the same individual in gray sweatshirt and gray sweatpants walking with a female shortly before the time of the shooting.

The woman identified the individual as her son, and the female as his girlfriend. The woman’s son, later identified as Lovato, was inside the apartment and detained. Investigators later found a gray sweatshirt, gray sweatpants, black slippers and black fannypack after executing a search warrant for the apartment.

The gun was not located, but a gun box and gun magazines were located.

We had a witness tell us APD SWAT took Lovato into custody last night. The witness said he heard the gunshots when the murder happened.

Detectives charged Lovato with an open count of murder, tampering with evidence, and unlawful possession of a handgun. He was booked into the Bernalillo County Detention Center.