Friday, March 29, 2024

Rios gets the max

Rios gets the max

ALBUQUERQUE

Last Friday, New Mexico 2nd District Court Judge Briana Zamora sentenced Alex Rios to 67 ½ years in prison, the maximum penalty possible under state law, for his participation in the brutal murders of Allison Gorman and Kee Thompson during the summer of 2014.

Rios, 20, was 18 years old when he, Nathaniel Carrillo, then 16, and Gilbert Tafoya, then 15, were indicted in the murders of Gorman and Thompson, members of the Navajo Nation, who were homeless in the city and had taken shelter in an empty west-side lot, along with a third Diné man, Jerome Eskeets.

Eskeets was able to flee the attacks and flagged down police when they arrived at the scene of the murders.

Last December, Rios was found guilty in a jury trial of two counts of second-degree murder, along with several other counts of aggravated battery, tampering with evidence and contributing to the delinquency of minors.

Addressing Rios, who stood handcuffed in front of her, Zamora told him that what made the murders of Gorman and Thompson more heinous than others is that they happened over an extended period of time.

“I see rape and murder every day, but they often happen quickly. This was torture,” she said.


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