Police arrest suspect in deadly beating, robbery
Two other young men have yet to be caught
Police have arrested one of the three young men suspected of beating up and robbing an older man in front of a 7-Eleven in southeast Albuquerque last summer.
Emilio Mirabal, 19, is charged with murder and robbery with a deadly weapon, and was booked into the county jail Monday. The other two suspects are still at large. Around 2 a.m. on Aug. 10, a woman called 911 to say she saw the three young men beat up an older Native American man, later identified as 66-year-old Irvin Sanchez, according to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court. She said she saw them rummage through his pockets and run away from the store on the corner of San Mateo and Kathryn SE.
Sanchez was taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead. An autopsy report revealed he had injuries to his brain and to his spleen, and some broken ribs.
A break in the case came a couple of weeks later when the detective watched a surveillance video from inside the convenience store showing the suspects buying food and drinks.
One of the suspects used a credit card to buy a drink and Hot Fries, and the detective traced the card number to the Metropolitan Detention Center. The jail issues credit cards to inmates who have remaining money in their account when they are released.
The inmate was Mirabal and he had been released the previous day, according to the complaint. It is unclear from online court records why he had been in jail.
An informant also identified Mirabal, who he said had gone to Highland High School. The informant didn’t recognize the other two suspects.