Suspect in killing of visitor to SF has charges dropped
Police say 17-year-old remains only suspect in homicide case
SANTA FE — A Santa Fe teen, previously charged with murder in the death of a Michigan man visiting Santa Fe, was released from jail Thursday and for now faces no charges in connection with the homicide.
Zachary Gutierrez, 17, was arrested in September on one open count of murder and a tampering with evidence charge.
He was accused of killing 64-year-old Richard Milan when the Kalamazoo resident, who had stopped in Santa Fe as part of a cross-country road trip, was walking his dog near Airport Road. Gutierrez’s charges were dropped in late November without prejudice, meaning they can be refiled. Santa Fe District Attorney Marco Serna said last month that his office wouldn’t be able to present the case to a grand jury “before the juvenile time limits would expire on Dec. 13.”
Police have said there is no other suspect in the case.
Surveillance video from a nearby business showed Milan encounter a group of young people, then fall to the ground after two gunshots. He died of blood loss at the hospital.
According to court documents, a 17-year-old girl in the group told police she saw Gutierrez shoot Milan, stand over him and laugh.
At the time that the charges were dropped, his attorney, Steve Aarons, said he had cellphone video of two female witnesses saying they were intimidated into blaming the murder on Gutierrez. It is unclear if that video has been turned over to police or the District Attorney’s Office. Aarons did not return a message for comment Thursday afternoon.
Gutierrez was in custody on a separate matter until his Thursday release.