Albuquerque man arrested on suspicion of killing Taos resident
Law enforcement arrested Andrew Chavez on April 3 on suspicion of killing 49-year-old Taos County man Armando Salazar, who was found dead in Albuquerque on March 24.
Chavez faces an open count of murder in the first-degree.
According to a statement of probable cause, officers with the Albuquerque Homicide Unit responded to a call regarding an unresponsive male, later identified as Salazar, on 102nd Street at 7 a.m. on March 24. Officers inspected Salazar’s body and found a gunshot wound to the right side of his head, but the body had no form of identification — Salazar’s body was missing his wallet, house keys and phone. Officers found evidence that Salazar may have been engaged in a sexual act around the time he was killed.
The New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator identified the body and found soot around the gunshot wound, indicating he was shot at close range. He also had bruising to his body, which has raised suspicions among investigators that his body was moved after he was killed.
Officers later learned that a 2009 red Lincoln MKS belonging to Salazar had been reported missing.
Using GPS technology, officers tracked Salazar’s phone to an address in Albuquerque, where officers observed a red Lincoln parked outside. Officers then reported seeing two men get into the vehicle, whose movements seemed to then match the location of Salazar’s cell phone. The men drove to an apartment complex, where they deposited a bag into a room, where the officers received a ping for the cell phone.
The next day, on April 2, officers executed a search warrant of the apartment and detained six people residing there, including Chavez, Gracey Tenorio, April Ebert, Felicia Sedillo, Tobias Mascareñas, and Francisco Tafoya. Tafoya and Tenorio were arrested on outstanding felony warrants. Chavez refused to speak to officers without a lawyer, according to the statement of probable cause.
Officers said they also found the registration for Salazar’s Lincoln MKS, booking papers and other important documents belonging to Salazar. They also found a shopping bag full of clothing stained with what appeared to be dried blood. These items were found in the room Chavez was staying in. Officers also found a firearm in the room that they later matched with the caliber of bullet that was used to kill Salazar.
While interviewing Sedillo, officers discovered she and her roommates, Chavez and Ebert, were recently evicted by law enforcement and had been living in a car Chavez acquired at the end of March. When asked about the car, she described it as a maroon Lincoln. She said she was aware it had been stolen.
Sedillo also told officers that Chavez intended to register the vehicle under his name. She said he was possessive over the driver’s seat of the vehicle and once yelled at Ebert for going near it. She said he always kept the car keys on him.
Mascarenñas told officers that Chavez told him he had gotten the car for Ebert, his girlfriend. He noted he had never seen her driving the car. He said he thought Chavez had money because of the vehicle.
Word quickly reached Taos that Salazar had been killed, and Cindy Salazar, Armando Salazar’s cousin, said no one knows why anyone would shoot her cousin.
“He had a decent life growing up,” Cindy Salazar said. “He always dressed to impress. That was one thing with my cousin was that he always had to look sharp for everything he did. He grew up with fancy clothes, a nice car, which was good. He was a generous guy. If you needed help, he would go and help you. No matter what his troubles were, he was still out there to help.”
Cindy Salazar said she and another cousin of Armando began doing “detective work,” calling people he was acquainted with and using the little information they had about him. Armando and Cindy Salazar had lost touch over the years, which complicated her search. Salazar said she had never heard Chavez’s name before, although she suspects he did not act alone.
“[Armando Salazar] did have some issues in life, which everybody does,” she said. “When we were younger, we made our first Holy Communion together.”
Cindy Salazar remembered hanging out with Armando Salazar in their youth, even sharing classrooms at Ranchos Elementary, but they drifted apart after Armando transferred to Enos Garcia Elementary. As a student, he participated in band and the theater program. Cindy Salazar said he loved to sing, especially with his cousin Lori Lucero.
Going off to New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, Armando Salazar studied business before returning to Taos and working for various local institutions, like Ricky’s Restaurant and Sagebrush Inn.
“I lost contact with him in the last six years, and I would see him here and there,” Cindy Salazar said. “I’d just wish him the best. I hadn’t really seen him until probably around six months before he passed. I just saw him, ‘Hi, how are you? Bye,’ and that was it. I wish I would have told my cousin that I love him, and I hope he knew I did.”
A candlelight vigil will be held for Salazar on Sunday (April 21) at 6:30 p.m. at San Francisco de Asís church in Ranchos de Taos.