Police probe other attacks after slayings of homeless

ALBUQUERQUE— Three teenagers accused of fatally beating two homeless men beyond recognition with cinderblocks, bricks and a metal fence pole may have been terrorizing transients around Albuquerque for months, police said Monday.

Alex Rios, 18, and two boys ages 16 and 15 were ordered held on $5 million bond each during initial court appearances Monday. They face murder charges stemming from the attack in an Albuquerque lot where neighbors say transients regularly camped at night.

Following their arrest, the 15-year-old told police that the three had attacked about 50 homeless people over the last few months, but had never gone that far.

Family and attorneys for the three declined to comment after the proceeding.

The father of the two younger defendants told an Albuquerque television station there were rumors his son was violent, but he assumed it was with other kids. Victor Prieto told KOB-TV that he and his family had once been homeless themselves.

“It’s so hard that he could do that to someone where … I mean, like I said, we came from there,” said Prieto, who said he was the father of the 15and 16-year-old.

According to the criminal complaint, the teens came home from a party and the 15-year-old was angry over a breakup with a girlfriend. So they covered their faces with black T-shirts and went out to look for someone to beat up and possibly rob.

Officers responded Saturday around 8 a.m. to a call reporting the two bodies in a field. They found one victim lying on a mattress and another on the ground. Jerome Eskeets, a third victim who was able to flee, was hospitalized with injuries.

Eskeets told police that he recognized one of the youths hitting and kicking him as someone who lived in a house nearby, and police found the three suspects there.

Investigators have not yet confirmed the identities of the two victims. The severity of their injuries have made identification difficult, police said.