Judge orders murder suspects detained

Three people charged in connection with the shooting death of an 11-year-old boy will remain in custody on no-bond holds until their cases are heard by the Valencia County grand jury.

On Tuesday, March 16, District Court Judge Cindy Mercer granted the 13th Judicial District Attorney Office’s request to keep Alexandria Tabora, 40; Santos Mateo Garcia, 21, her son; and Erik Carillo-Garcia, 24, in jail until at least Thursday, March 18. The grand jury will meet to deliberate after News-Bulletin press time, so it is unknown whether the three will be indicted on the charges.

The three Monterey Park residents are charged with felony murder, conspiracy to commit aggravated assault and aggravated assault in relation to the death of Joseph Hobbs, 11, of Los Chavez. He was shot and killed in the front yard of a Monterey Park home on Carmel Drive on Saturday, March 6.

13th Judicial District Attorney Barbara Romo said typically, a pretrial detention motion can be requested at the same time as a preliminary hearing for defendants, but due to logistics, that could not be done for this case.

“On Tuesday, we asked they remain in custody and since all three defendants are codefendants, we will present them to the grand jury at the same time on Thursday,” Romo said. “This does seem kind of backwards, but the rule does allow it. Once someone is in custody, we have a very short time to file a pretrial detention motion.

“It’s up to the grand jury as to whether it will indict, but we wouldn’t be presenting the case if we didn’t think we have sufficient evidence.”

Romo said she couldn’t comment on the case at this time, since the defendants had not been indicted.

Tabora and Carillo-Garcia were both placed on probation after being involved in an incident that started at 37 Carmel, where Hobbs was killed, in October 2019. Court records show the two went to the home and stole a cell phone and pink bicycle from the man living there. Carillo-Garcia was armed with a handgun and threatened the man with it, while Tabora used a wooden broom handle to threaten the man.

Valencia County Sheriff’s Lt. Joseph Rowland said the man fled and went to the Quick Stop convenience store near the intersection of Manzano Expressway and El Cerro Mission Boulevard. The two, along with others, were charged and arrested.

According to court records, Tabora was indicted on 13 counts in connection to the incident, including aggravated battery, false imprisonment, aggravated burglary, armed robbery and interference with communications. Carillo-Garcia was charged with seven counts, including armed robbery, false imprisonment and shooting at a dwelling.

Both were given deferred sentences and put on supervised probation for five years, with Tabora’s to begin on March 8, while Carillo-Garcia’s began on Jan. 25.

Tabora was arrested and charged on March 7 and Carillo-Garcia on March 8. The DA’s office filed a motion to revoke probation for both on March 10.

Rowland said the VCSO has responded to more than 20 calls for service at 37 and 47 Carmel in the last three years, including warrant arrests, calls about stolen vehicles and drug investigations.

“There have been numerous pursuits reported by (New Mexico State Police) coming from those two residents,” Rowland said. “Valencia County Sheriff’s Office has also responded to 40 Carmel, the primary residence of Erik Carillo-Garcia, up until the time he was arrested a year-and-a-half ago with Alexandria (Tabora),” he said.

Prior to the shooting, court records show Garcia, Tabora’s son, received a handful of traffic violations since 2017, including no proof of insurance, no driver’s license, speeding and careless driving.

During Tuesday’s hearing, ADA Natalie Campbell said even though the traffic tickets were misdemeanors, Garcia never appeared in court unless a bench warrant was issued for him and he was arrested.