After 3 years, charges filed in deadly drive-by
DA’s Office spokesman unsure why it took so long
One teenager spent several months behind bars. Another didn’t live to see his 15th birthday.
Now, almost three years after the case surrounding a teenager’s death appeared to fall silent, police have arrested the teen they say was behind the wheel during the 2015 driveby shooting of 14-year-old Isaiah Albright.
Questions as to who fired the fatal shots remain as the prosecution against the original suspect fell apart in 2016 after someone else may have confessed to the crime.
The first charges to be filed in years related to the death of Albright were handed down in April when police arrested Francisco Lopez, 20, the alleged wheelman.
District Attorney spokesman Michael Patrick said he could not comment on the case as it is an ongoing investigation, but he didn’t know why it took so long to file charges against Lopez.
Patrick did say new information has come out in the case, and the office is close to wrapping up the investigation.
“We’re about ready to move,” he said.
Albright was gunned down and two other teens were injured outside Pat Hurley Park when bullets sprayed from a passing car in the early morning hours of July 27, 2015
Police have said they do not believe Albright was the intended target.
But police have yet to say who pulled the trigger after the original suspect, 17-year-old Christopher Rodriguez, was released when his case was dismissed in 2016. By that time, Rodriguez had spent several months in the juvenile detention center.
While it is unclear from court documents why the case against Rodriguez was dismissed, the defense filed a motion in Febru-
ary 2016 stating that a relative of Rodriguez had confessed to being the shooter.
According to the motion, detectives conducted a recorded interview with the relative, in which he confessed to the homicide, giving detailed information about the shooting.
The motion states detectives chose not to charge the relative at the time and Rodriguez’s defense waited for, and never received, a response from then-District Attorney Kari Brandenburg’s office on “how to proceed.”
By the end of May the case against Rodriguez was dismissed and he was released.
Rodriguez told the Journal last month that he feels he was wronged by the system and deserves “a whole lot more than an apology.”
Rodriguez, who maintains his innocence, said he never thought there was a chance of reaching the courts with his side of the story during all those months behind bars.
“There’s no reasoning with them,” he said.
Rodriguez denies any knowledge of how the case fell apart and said he didn’t question it when he was released.
“It just felt good to know I was going to see my family again,” he said.
It’s unclear if the case was dismissed because of the confession or if there was another reason.
Court documents don’t show any record of the relative ever being charged in the case, and he is currently not facing charges.
Neither APD spokesmen Gilbert Gallegos nor Simon Drobik returned requests for comment.
Lopez’s attorney Ahmad Assed said his client has been in Albuquerque all this time and he didn’t know why the indictment was only just recently filed against him.