Man gets 10 years for murder of his girlfriend
Defendant pleaded no contest, claimed shooting was a ‘tragic accident’
An Albuquerque man convicted of shooting his girlfriend in the head was sentenced Tuesday to 10 years in prison for her murder.
According to her family, Alma Contreras’ killing came after a short, violent relationship with Christopher Fernandez.
But Fernandez’s attorney said his client has always held that the shooting was a “tragic accident.”
Deputies said Fernandez, 45, wrapped Contreras’ body in a blanket and tarp before dumping it beside a moving van in the South Valley in July 2016. And shortly after that, he attempted a carjacking in a casino parking lot, before hiding in his ex-wife’s apartment, prompting a lengthy standoff with the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office SWAT team.
He pleaded no contest in September to seconddegree murder and attempted armed robbery, and he pleaded guilty to tampering with evidence. Under the terms of his plea agreement, he was sentenced by 2nd Judicial District Judge Cindy Leos to 10 years in prison, followed by five years of probation.
During Tuesday’s hearing, Contreras’ relatives said she moved to Albuquerque about a year before her death and met Fernandez.
“Three times I came to visit my daughter,” her mother said through a translator. “And all three times she would have marks or bruises where she had been beaten.”
But she said Contreras, 41, always went back to Fernandez, whom she loved deeply.
“She would always tell me, ‘Mom, he’s going to kill me. He’s going to kill me,’” she said. “Why would she go back to him?”
Fernandez’s attorney, Raymond Maestas, said in a statement that his client loved Contreras and that she was the one who pulled a gun on him.
“He tried to take it away from her. They struggled over the gun. The gun discharged, striking Alma,” Maestas said.
A gun expert, Maestas said, determined the gun’s safety was faulty and that it fired “approximately 50 percent of the time when the trigger was lightly struck,” which could happen during a struggle. He also said that the lead detective in the case said “it was possible for the incident to have occurred the way (Fernandez) described.”
“Accidents do happen,” Maestas said.