Man gets 45 years in brutal 2016 beating, murder
ABQ man tells court ‘I deserve every single year’ for killing former friend
An Albuquerque man with a long criminal record was sentenced Thursday to 45 years in prison for beating and stabbing a friend to death in November 2016.
A jury found London Word, 31, guilty of second-degree murder and two counts of tampering with evidence in March, and because of his prior convictions, the sentence for those crimes was increased by 24 years.
“It seems the only time he’s not in trouble is when he’s in the Department of Corrections,” prosecutor Les Romaine argued before asking state District Judge Jacqueline Flores to impose the maximum 45-year sentence.
According to a spokesman for the District Attorney’s Office, Word had been staying with Lucas Bazan in exchange for drugs. When their friendship dissolved, Word was asked to move out and, at some point after that, he brutally beat Bazan before slitting his throat and hiding his body in a closet. Word told police that Bazan pulled two knives on him during an argument over methamphetamine.
Afterward, Word went to his mother’s home and told her that he had “done something real bad,” police said.
Word said he is a product of what he’s endured over years spent in prison who, in November 2016, was struggling with addiction and focused only on his “next fix.”
“I deserve every single year,” Word said in a lengthy statement to the court. “I deserve it.”
He said things were “spiraling out of control” that night, and he wanted Bazan’s family to know how sorry he is.
“I took the life of a friend,” he said. “I took the life of someone’s loved one.”
Martin Juarez, Word’s attorney, said his client, who suffered abuse as a child, had taken responsibility for the crime from the beginning.
“There has been a request for a maximum sentence,” Juarez said. “Vengeance is not justice. London Word is not irredeemable.”
Bazan’s family described sitting through a trial and seeing disturbing images of Bazan’s wounded, bloodied body. They described an outgoing man, who cheered on the Dallas Cowboys and had been raised to help others.
“Nothing will take this away or fix this hurt,” said Bazan’s sister. “And I think anything other than the maximum sentence is just going to add to this hurt and pain.”