Arrest made in double homicide

It was a call Lillian Lopez had been waiting on for more than a year. The man accused of murdering her two sons, Anthony and David Lopez, had been captured.

Early in the evening of Monday, Oct. 28, Albuquerque Police Department officers were called to the Siegel Suites on Hotel Circle, near Interstate 25 and Eubank Boulevard.

“They were responding to a disturbance call,” said Sgt. Joseph Rowland, spokesman for the Valencia County Sheriff’s Office. “When they arrived, the man they made contact with was identified as Isaac Jaramillo, and they pulled up the warrant for his arrest.”

VCSO detectives were notified and went to Albuquerque to take Jaramillo into custody, and he was booked into the Valencia County Detention Center.

Through sobs and tears, Lopez said Jaramillo’s capture was “the best birthday present my two boys could have in heaven. Their birthdays are just around the corner.”

Anthony would have turned 21 on Nov. 3, and David, 24, on Nov. 10.

“These aren’t tears of sadness; these are tears of joy,” Lopez said. “This is the best thing I could have gotten, period.”

Jaramillo, 19, also known as Isaac Hernandez and goes by the street name “Beast Mode,” is charged with two open counts of murder in connection to the shooting deaths of brothers David and Anthony Lopez, and aggravated battery.

According to the criminal complaint, some time after 11:30 p.m., Friday, Oct. 19, 2018, Tricia Linn went to the Lopez house in Meadow Lake, where she found the brothers and a third man, later identified as Jaramillo, in the living room of the home. Lillian Lopez also lived at the home but had left for the weekend.

Linn told investigators Anthony introduced the man as “Beast Mode.”

She and David went upstairs to sleep, leaving Anthony and Jaramillo in the living room playing pool. Linn said they were woken up by an argument between Jaramillo and Anthony, followed by what Linn said were gunshots inside the house.

Jaramillo called out to David, causing him to open the bedroom door. Linn claims Jaramillo began shooting, hitting David twice. David slammed the door closed and grabbed his gun. Then Jaramillo kicked in the door and the two men began shooting at each other.

Linn was struck by one of the rounds and David fell on top of her, so she closed her eyes and remained still, fearful Jaramillo would kill her.

Linn waited for Jaramillo to leave the house, listening as he stole Anthony’s Jeep. She fled to find help, and flagged down a driver on High Mesa Road, who called 911.

The Jeep was found abandoned on Tower Road in Albuquerque on Saturday, Oct. 20, 2018.

Rowland said investigators don’t know where Jaramillo has been for the last year.

“Detectives will Mirandize him (advise Jaramillo of his rights) and try to interview him. He doesn’t have to talk to us,” the sergeant said.

Lopez got the call from VCSO Detective David Zilink, notifying her of Jaramillo’s capture just before 9 p.m. Monday.

“I hadn’t gotten home and was at my moms. I was telling her it had been a long day for me and she said it was the same for her. It was a weird day,” Lillian said. “Then my phone went off. It was Detective David. I put it on speaker and just said, ‘Please, please tell me …’”

When he started the investigation into her sons’ murders, Lopez said Zilink told her he wouldn’t give up.

“And he didn’t,” she said.

She went on to thank the public and law enforcement for their help in not only finding Jaramillo, but the support her family has received.

“(Jaramillo) needed to be found and now that he’s been found, he needs to do his time,” she said. “Justice needs to be served now. I stayed up all night spreading the news to our family. They were so happy. It’s been a long, hard year.”