Suspect sought in fatal shooting
Fight escalated to gunshot at point-blank range, witnesses say
Police are looking for a suspect who they say fatally shot a man at point-blank range two weeks ago during a fight in a Northeast Albuquerque apartment.
Michael Baitz, 24, is wanted in connection with the killing of 31-year-old Benjamin Maldonado, according to an arrest warrant affidavit filed in Metropolitan Court. He is charged with murder.
According to the affidavit, officers were called to an apartment in the 1100 block of Prospect NE, near Menaul and Juan Tabo, on the morning of Dec. 2. When they arrived, police found Maldonado dead from a gunshot to the stomach in the doorway of an apartment.
Four people were taken into custody for questioning. They told police the shooting escalated from a fight that started in a car, between the victim’s brother and a girl, after the group left a party the night before.
The affidavit doesn’t say what the fight was about.
The fight continued at the apartment, and one of the women pulled out a gun, according to the affidavit. Police say Maldonado, along with the others, struggled to get the gun away from the woman.
Afterward, witnesses told police the woman got on the phone and Maldonado said she would call “her friends” and “it won’t be pretty.”
Baitz showed up at the apartment soon after, armed with a gun, and Maldonado rushed him.
During the struggle, police say Baitz shot Maldonado, close enough for the barrel outline to be”seared onto the skin” of his stomach.
Witnesses told police Maldonado said, “I’ve been shot,” and fell to the ground while Baitz fled.
Two witnesses told police they had met Baitz a “handful of times” and were able to identify him as the shooter.