APD’s homicide count grows with killing, suspicious death of women
Death brings the number of homicides in Albuquerque to 14 for the month
Detectives are looking into the unrelated deaths of two women on Friday: one who was killed at a Northeast Albuquerque motel and another whose body was found under “suspicious circumstance” in a room at an airport-area hotel.
The two deaths come a day after Albuquerque police held a news conference to address a surge of 13 homicides over the past month — a number that has risen to 14.
Albuquerque police spokesman Gilbert Gallegos said officers responded around 9 a.m. to the Courtyard by Marriott hotel near the Sunport after employees found a woman’s body.
He said the woman was found in a room at the motel and “suspicious circumstances” led to homicide detectives to investigate.
Hours later, Gallegos said police responded to the Amberly Suites near Eubank and Interstate 40, after a woman went to the front of the motel “needing help.”
He said officers — who were already nearby conducting tactical plans at area motels to tackle the rising homicides — found a woman with a “chest wound” on the ground in the parking lot. The woman was taken to the hospital, where she died.
Gallegos said homicide detectives are “conducting interviews and canvassing the property.”
On Thursday, interim Police Chief Harold Medina held a briefing to discuss a rash of killings — two of them double homicides — over the month of January. At least six of those who died are women and eight of the 14 deaths happened between Jan. 21 and Friday.