Joshua Waters
Charged with murder
RIO COMMUNITIES—The identity of a man killed last Wednesday morning in a camper trailer near the Rio Grande has been released by local law enforcement, and an Albuquerque man has been charged in relation to his death.
Valencia County Sheriff’s Lt. James Harris said the victim is Christopher J. Trujillo, 27, who Harris said has been living in the Belen area for the last several years.
Trujillo died from blunt force trauma to the head.
“I can’t provide any further information at this time without compromising the investigation,” Harris said.
Valencia County detectives were called out to investigate the suspicious death of a man in Rio Communities on the morning of Wednesday, June 19.
Trujillo was found in a small camper trailer near the river on the west side of N.M. 47, north of the Allsup’s convenience store.
Initially, detectives thought Trujillo lived in the trailer; however, as the investigation unfolded, they found Joshua Waters, 34, was staying in the trailer, not the victim.
Waters, who’s last known address is in Albuquerque, has been charged with an open count of murder in relation to the death, and is being held at the Valencia County Detention Center on a no-bond hold. Waters was also wanted on a bench warrant out of Albuquerque.
Harris said the two men were acquaintances, but the exact nature of their relationship is unclear at the point in the investigation.
Julia M. Dendinger began working at the VCNB in 2006. She covers Valencia County government, Belen Consolidated Schools and the village of Bosque Farms. She is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists Rio Grande chapter’s board of directors.
