Officer, deputies cleared in 2 fatal shootings

District Attorney’s Office finishes investigations of cases from 2013, 2015

Prosecutors have finished reviewing two officer-involved shootings — one by an Albuquerque Police Department officer in 2013 and one by three Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office deputies in 2015 — and will not pursue charges against any of the officers involved.

The 2nd Judicial District Attorney’s Office announced the findings Friday.

Albuquerque police officer Hector Marquez was cleared after shooting and killing Andy Snider, who was armed with a hammer, in a dark alley near the University of New Mexico on Dec. 8, 2013.

And Bernalillo County sheriff’s deputies Michael Schlattman, Derek Taylor and Nicolas Marrujo were cleared after shooting and killing suspect Joseph Jaramillo on Nov. 11, 2015.

Snider’s death came during a spate of shootings that occurred toward the end of 2013 while the Albuquerque Police Department was under federal investigation by the Department of Justice for its use of force, specifically over its high rate of shootings by police.

Four months after Snider was killed, the DOJ found the department had a pattern or practice of violating citizens’ rights through use of force. APD is now under court-ordered reform.

According to a review released by the DA’s Office on Friday, officer Marquez and another officer were called to a 7-Eleven at Central and University around 9:30 p.m. after Snider had allegedly threatened another man with a hammer.

They found Snider nearby and chased him into a dark alley. He then charged at them with a hammer in his hand, according to the review.

Marquez opened fire after another officer’s beanbag rounds appeared to have no effect, according to Marquez’s statement to an investigator. Snider was taken to a hospital, where he died.

In the Jaramillo shooting, sheriff’s deputy Schlattman tried to pull over a driver for not having a visible license plate around 3:30 a.m. Nov. 11, 2015, in the South Valley.

Instead of stopping, the driver, later identified as Jaramillo, fled, according to the DA Office’s report on the case. Deputies followed him, and Jaramillo crashed into Schlattman, who opened fire after he said he saw Jaramillo reach for something. Two other deputies — Taylor and Marrujo — also opened fire, and Jaramillo was pronounced dead at the scene.