Slain dad remembered for his love of outdoors
Police still searching for assailant in fatal shooting outside victim’s home
Those who worked and rode with Robert J. Romero remember him as a kind of quiet leader.
He didn’t say too much, friends remember. But he was quick to lend a hand to colleagues at work; happy to offer advice to fellow mountain bikers; deeply devoted to his wife and daughters.
“His life was pretty much the outdoors, his family and work,” said Michael D’Alfonso, a co-worker and friend of Romero’s. “And I would put his family first.”
Santa Fe police on Tuesday confirmed Romero, 52, was slain early Monday morning on the 2300 block of Las Casitas, a cul-de-sac near Herb Martinez Park.
According to a news release from the Santa Fe Police Department, Romero was involved in a physical altercation outside his house with an unknown assailant and suffered a gunshot wound. The suspect ran off, police said in the news release, and Romero later died. Police were still searching for the assailant on Tuesday. Romero was the chief financial officer at Barker Realty in Santa Fe, according to its website. Before that, he was the group controller in The New Mexican’s accounting department.
David Barker, an owner of Barker Realty, said Romero was a savvy bookkeeper but also had an acute analytical sense that helped the business succeed in the six years he worked there.
“His entire approach to working with people was to be a patient teacher,” Barker said. “He helped mentor several of our employees whose careers have grown immeasurably as a result of his input and advice.
“Despite his being a very quiet person,” Barker added later, “boy, could he tell a good joke and have a nice, broad smile on his face.”
Friends say Romero’s love of the outdoors was ever present, particularly when he was riding a bike.
“Robert was one of New Mexico’s top mountain bikers,” said Kyle Klain. “He won the cross-country state championships in his age category every decade, and was heavily recognized as just being an absolute gift on a bike.”
On one of their first rides together, Klain said Romero actually lapped the rest of their small group of cyclists. Later, he learned Romero had done an extra circuit of a steep, 6-mile course and caught up to the group.
“He was a master on a mountain bike; it was poetry in motion,” Klain said. “That sort of discipline translated into every other facet of his life, whether it was raising his kids to how he helped manage [Barker Realty] and helped coach, not just on a bike, but also helped coach people in their personal real estate businesses here. That discipline and mastery just permeated everything he touched.”
In addition to his enthusiasm for biking, camping and backpacking,
Klain said Romero was a “total gear head” and was restoring two Camaros. Romero also had an old Chevy pickup used in advertisements for Barker Realty.
Romero’s friends and co-workers say he is survived by a wife and two daughters.
“It’s hard to talk about it without breaking down and wanting to cry,” said Tony Farrar, owner of Santa Fe shop NM Bike N Sport. Romero would ride with the Bike N Sport group, Farrar said, and his son is close with one of Romero’s daughters.
“It’s just unbelievable that something like this could happen to somebody who didn’t deserve it at all,” Farrar said. “Nobody can fathom in their mind why it would happen to such a great guy.”
In the news release, Santa Fe police said a suspicious person was reported looking into windows of a residence on the 1000 block of Valerie Circle, which is not far from Romero’s neighborhood, Tuesday around 1:30 a.m. Police have not confirmed whether that man was connected to Romero’s death, but described the man as about 5-foot-5, with a shaved or bald head, about 25 to 35 years old. He was wearing jeans and a muscle shirt with a visible tattoo on his back.
Police planned to beef up their presence Tuesday night in south-central Santa Fe area where Romero was killed, the news release said.