Suspect sought in home invasion killing

Victim was wellrespected handyman

Chris Mirabal said everybody respected his brother Freddie — all except for the man who shot him to death last week in northeast Albuquerque.

“This was something deliberate, something only a coward would do,” he said of his brother’s killer. “I really, really hope he turns himself in, it would be better for him.”

Police say they have no suspects in the Sept. 3 shooting of 42-year Freddie Mirabal Jr. in the 500 block of San Pablo NE.

“It appears Mr. Mirabal may have been shot during a home invasion,” Albuquerque Police Department spokesman and officer Tanner Tixier said. “His death is being investigated as a homicide.”

Witnesses reported seeing a short African American male running from the scene, he said. Police are asking the public to come forward with any information they may have about the incident.

Chris Mirabal, younger of the two brothers, said his mother called him around 4 a.m. the morning of Sept. 4 after officers showed up on her doorstep to tell her Freddie was gone.

“When you find out your only sibling’s gone, it’s really hard to take,” Mirabal said. “I’m still trying to get my answers.”

His brother was staying with a friend, who was home at the time, when the shooting happened, he said. He has not been able to get any information from that person or the police.

“They were home but couldn’t give too much of a statement,” he said. “Which I don’t understand.”

What Mirabal has heard is the stories, from multiple people, of his brother’s kindness in the days since his death along with the disbelief that he is gone.

“I have still yet to see his body to believe it,” he said. “The only thing I want to do is take him to his final resting place and let him be.”

Freddie Mirabal Jr. was raised in the South Valley and went to Rio Grande High School, making his living as a handyman and jack-of-all-trades.

“He could fix anything you want fixed,” Chris Mirabal said, adding that his brother could build cars, houses, and everything in between.

Mirabal said he and his brother were close, despite the occasional spat.

“He loved to laugh and loved to live, it sucks that he’s 42 and gone,” he said.