Plea deal for woman in fatal shooting at ABQ motel
The woman who police said drove the getaway car after her boyfriend fatally shot a woman over a stolen backpack pleaded guilty Friday to second-degree murder and several other charges.
Under a plea deal with the District Attorney’s Office, Tanya Becenti will be sentenced to between one and 15 years in prison for the Jan. 20 shooting death of Abril Lozano.
According to a criminal complaint, Becenti and Angel Celis wanted to get back at Lozano for stealing Becenti’s backpack, and they asked 17-year-old India LaMere to set up a meeting with Lozano and her boyfriend at a hotel.
The trio drove to the Studio 6 Extended Stay Motel on Osuna near Jefferson, and Celis knocked on the door of the couple’s motel room. When Lozano answered, he shot her and Becenti drove LaMere and Celis away from the scene, police said.
“Tanya stated she did nothing to stop Angel from committing the murder and admitted to making a mistake by driving them to the Studio 6,” a detective wrote in the complaint. “She acknowledged that if she made the choice not to drive them to the Studio 6 that this probably would not have happened.”
On Friday, Becenti agreed to “assist the state in the cases” involving Celis and LaMere, Distict Judge Cristina Jaramillo said in court.
“This cooperation includes providing a truthful pretrial statement … and testifying truthfully for the state at any hearing or trial in the aforementioned cases,” Jaramillo said, reading from the plea agreement.
“We believe Angel Celis is the main actor in this case,” prosecutor Letitia Simms said, following Friday’s hearing.
Becenti’s attorney Randy Chavez said that he felt it was in Becenti’s “better interest” to take the plea agreement.
Police also allege that just hours before shooting Lozano, Celis shot and killed Myisha Garcia outside of a North Valley home. His case on two counts of first-degree murder and other charges is pending. LaMere’s case is also in progress.
Becenti will be sentenced after their cases are resolved, Jaramillo said. She will remain in custody in the interim, because she is facing a minimum sentence of one year, Chavez said.
Becenti admitted in court that she has previously been convicted of several felonies, including trafficking and receiving a stolen vehicle.
Simms said that because Becenti agreed to a habitual offender plea, if she reoffends after she completes her sentence, she could face more than 40 years behind bars.
“If she’s not rehabilitated after this,” Simms said, “she’s looking at some serious time.”