‘Mobbing’ teen gets max penalty
A Children’s Court judge ruled Tuesday that one of the teens convicted of crimes surrounding the death of a beloved Albuquerque bartender will remain in custody until he turns 21.
In a dispositional hearing Tuesday, Judge John Romero handed down the maximum penalty for 16-year-old Matthew Baldonado. Baldonado’s defense attorney Daniel Salazar emphasized the fact that Baldonado was not involved in the shooting as he asked the judge to place the boy on probation.
Of the six teenagers involved
in the night of “mobbing” that led to the death of 60-year-old Steven Gerecke, Baldonado’s case is the first to be resolved. Police said Gerecke, who had just returned home from work, confronted the teens shortly after they broke into his home. He was shot and killed in his driveway.
Early this month, Jeremiah King, who admitted firing the deadly shots, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and six more charges. He will be sentenced as an adult and is facing up to 25 years in prison.
Baldonado pleaded no contest in mid-November to four crimes: conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, aggravated battery, unlawful taking of a motor vehicle and larceny. His case, along with the case against Enrique Palomino, was handled in Children’s Court. The rest of the teens were prosecuted in adult court.
Three more teens charged in crimes stemming from the night of Gerecke’s death are awaiting hearings that will determine whether they should be sentenced as juveniles or adults.