Suspect charged in Four Hills stabbing
Pair was burglarizing cars when one killed homeowner, police say
Two men have been arrested after one of them allegedly killed a car owner as the pair was burglarizing cars in Albuquerque’s Four Hills neighborhood early Saturday morning.
An anonymous tipster led police to Tyler Hernandez, 25, who was arrested and charged with murder in the Saturday morning stabbing.
His friend Craig Whited, 26, told police he and Hernandez were breaking into cars when Hernandez stabbed 55-yearold William McKinley, according to court records. Whited has also been arrested but is facing less serious charges.
Police were called to the stabbing on the 1500 block of Soplo SE shortly after 5 a.m. Saturday. They found McKinley, a home remodeler and longtime Albuquerque resident, at the base of his driveway with several stab wounds.
McKinley’s father-in-law was sitting on his chest to try to staunch the bleeding. McKinley died at the hospital.
Before he died, police say, McKinley was able to tell his
wife that two men in a dark-colored Jeep had fled the scene and the passenger in the Jeep had stabbed him.
Police discovered at least four other cars in the neighborhood had been broken into.
Later that day, detectives received an anonymous tip that Hernandez was involved in the killing, according to a criminal complaint filed against him in Metropolitan Court. The tipster told officers Hernandez and Whited had been unloading stolen goods at a home on the 1500 block of Conchas NE near Eubank and Indian School.
Detectives interviewed Hernandez’s girlfriend, who told them Hernandez and Whited arrived at the house on Conchas around 7 a.m. Saturday driving a dark-colored Chevrolet Blazer. She said they unloaded tools, and she told detectives there were stolen items in the house.
Detectives then went to Whited’s house and interviewed his girlfriend. She told them Whited texted her half an hour after the stabbing and asked her to come talk to him because it might be their “final goodbye,” according to the complaint.
She said Whited told her he and Hernandez had gone out to commit some robberies and Hernandez stabbed someone, according to the complaint. The girlfriend said when she went to talk to Whited, he had brown spots on his hands and clothing and talked about burning his clothes.
Officers detained Whited, and when they interviewed him he told them he’d been involved in the auto burglaries but that Hernandez had done the stabbing, according to the complaint.
He said he and Hernandez met at a local 7-Eleven around 2 a.m. and planned to break into cars. They drove Whited’s Chevy Blazer to Four Hills and parked on the cul de sac where McKinley lived, according to the complaint.
Whited told police he broke into a car and was putting tools he stole back into his car when he noticed Hernandez fighting with a man inside a truck parked at a neighboring house.
He said he ran back to the car he was burglarizing, and when he looked again, the fighters had moved to his Blazer.
Whited told police he didn’t see the whole fight, but when the man collapsed at the bottom of the driveway, the pair drove away.
Whited said Hernandez told him he’d stabbed the man and then wiped a knife on his pants and threw it out the window, according to the complaint.
Detectives found Hernandez at the home on Conchas. They say they were watching the home when he came out with a baseball bat and started hitting trees. They detained him and found he had what appeared to be marijuana on him.
When they tried to question him, he asked for a lawyer, according to the complaint. He later told officers that Whited had done the stabbing and he wasn’t there, but didn’t elaborate.
Officers say Hernandez had a bruise under his eye and scratches on his arms, while Whited didn’t have any injuries. Police say physical evidence at the scene matches Whited’s description of what happened.
Whited said he cleaned the blood off his Blazer and told detectives where it was parked, but they didn’t find it, according to the complaint.
Whited was charged with two counts of aggravated auto burglary, conspiracy, possession of burglary tools and tampering with evidence and booked into the county jail.
Hernandez is facing the same charges, along with assault with intent to commit a violent felony and an open count of murder.
Both men have been in trouble with the law before.
Whited has pleaded guilty to felony burglary and drug trafficking in the past and most recently faced some burglary-related charges. That case was dropped, but it appears from court records that prosecutors plan to refile.
Hernandez has pleaded guilty to burglary charges, larceny of a firearm, contributing to the delinquency of a minor and larceny, and pleaded guilty to escaping from a community custody program in another case.
He most recently was charged with residential larceny and burglary, but that case was dropped.
Neither Whited nor Hernandez has a documented history of violence.