19-year-old woman charged with having role in 3 shootings
Victims were lured to fake drug deals and shot, police say
Police arrested a woman who they say helped her boyfriend and two others commit three shootings that left one teenager dead and two others with life-shattering injuries a few months ago.
Leticia Nicolet, 19, surrendered Thursday afternoon and faces charges including murder, attempted murder, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, shooting at or from a motor vehicle and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
Nicolet is the fourth person to be rounded up by police in connection to a string of shootings that took the life of Adrian Martinez, 17, and left Aneas Price, 16, blind and Vicente Sanchez, 16, paralyzed.
Matthew Delena, 23 — who police say is Nicolet’s boyfriend — Seven Long, 15, and Kalani Hodges, 17, have been arrested in the past month and are facing similar charges.
Police say the four were part of a crew that used a fake Facebook account to lure the teens under the guise of drug deals for the purpose of killing them over an alleged gang rivalry.
The shootings unfolded in public places across Albuquerque from late August through September, and police say Delena, Long and Hodges all pulled the trigger at separate times. However, much of Nicolet’s involvement is still unclear.
According to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court, Nicolet drove Delena’s vehicle the night Adrian Martinez was gunned down in a quiet northeast Albuquerque neighborhood Sept. 9. A confidential informant told police Delena offered over Facebook to sell Martinez $40 worth of marijuana and all three young men shot Martinez when he met them at the corner of Marble and Monroe NE.
Police say the suspects recorded cellphone video of Martinez’s slaying and shared it over Facebook.
In addition to Martinez’s slaying, police say Delena and Long shot Price on Aug. 22 at the Sandia Vista Apartments and Delena shot Sanchez “execution style” in the parking lot of the Whole Foods Market on Carlisle on Sept. 14.