Documents in fatal S.F. shooting to be unsealed

Man arrested on charges of murder, armed robbery in connection with Jan. incident

State District Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer postponed a detention hearing Thursday for Randall Lopez, who is accused of fatally shooting Frank Pete at Las Palomas apartments in January.

Lopez’s defense attorney, Tom Clark, said he’d just received the case the day before and needed time to prepare for a hearing that could result in Lopez remaining jailed until trial if he is deemed too dangerous to be released on bond.

Lopez, 31, was arrested March 17 on charges of murder, armed robbery and being a felon in possession of a firearm in connection to the Jan. 8 shooting that killed Pete, an Arizona man.

Details in the case have been sparse because the arrest warrant and criminal complaint were filed under seal at the request of Santa Fe police. Sommer granted prosecutors’ request to unseal the charging documents Thursday morning, but they were still sealed as of 5 p.m.

Santa Fe police Capt. Anthony Tapia said last week the primary reasons for sealing the case were to protect those named as witnesses in the documents and to keep the suspect close.

Prosecutor Nicole Manning had filed a motion asking the court to hold Lopez without bond based on the seriousness

of the charges against him and his multiple failures to appear in previous cases.

“Based on information provided orally from the investigating Detective in this case to the State, the Defendant’s street name is Randall ‘Hitman’ Lopez,” she wrote in the motion. “There can be no misunderstanding that interconnection with the potential for danger, either gained from actions, or sought by Randall ‘Hitman’ Lopez himself.”

Manning said she’ll likely amend the motion after viewing the charging documents.

The pretrial detention hearing is now scheduled for April 2.