Five teenagers, who reportedly stole the van of a church deacon, were facing murder charges. The man, who was subsequently shot and ran over by the group of teens, was in a coma for two months after the attack before he died in November.
The church deacon was also a carpenter in New Mexico and was identified as Hector Aguirre. Aguirre was trying to stop the group of teenagers from stealing his work van. The five suspects were members of a self-proclaimed group who was notoriously considered dangerous.
The group has been the suspect of escalating crimes all over Albuquerque. NBC 5 reported that they are also associated with a robbery crime where they killed a dog and are suspects in a drive-by shooting.
Police spokesman Fred Duran said that witnesses and citizens called cops to say that the suspects in the death of Aguirre are the group of teenagers. Witnesses claimed that Aguirre held onto the windshield wipers of his van and one of them pointed a gun at him. He then let go but the teens decided to run over him. The incident took place in September, Albuquerque Journal reported.
Aguirre was said to be giving a potential customer an estimate for the remodeling of kitchen cabinets when his van was stolen by the group of teens. The van was parked at a home on Compound North Court NW. Aguirre heard the engine of his van start and he ran outside to try and stop them from taking his vehicle.
Aguirre, who was a father of three boys, eventually died last Nov. 9 at a local hospital. The teenagers were arrested only last Monday. Their identities have been revealed as 19-year-old Daniel Sandoval, 19-year-old Dominic Jiminez, 19-year-old Xavier Montoya, 15-year-old Cornelius McCullum, and 16-year-old Lanise Padilla. The three 19-year-olds have been charged as adults while Montoya and McCullum were charged as juveniles.
More on the drive-by shooting that the group was suspected of committing, the victim was identified as 18-year-old Aliyah Garcia. She was shot in May.
