Two Albuquerque Homeless Men Fatally Beaten By Three Teens

Alex Rios, Gilbert Tofoya and Nathaniel Carrillo

Teens charged with two counts of murder each in connection with the brutal murder of two homeless men.

By H. Nelson Goodson

July 23, 2014

Albuquerque, New Mexico - Three teens, Alex Rios, 18, Gilbert Tafoya, 15, and Nathaniel Carrillo, 16, were charged with two felony counts each for murder of two homeless men. In addition, Rios was charged with conspiracy to commit felony murder and contributing to the delinquency of a minor, three counts of battery and one count each with tampering with evidence and robbery.

The three suspects were arrested where both Carrillo and Tofoya live. The two young teens are brothers, but don't share the same last name. Police found a debit card and a license belonging to one of the victims at the home. Tofoya was still wearing clothing with blood on it when he was taken onto custody.

The suspects told police that they covered their faces with t-shirts and then beat the victims with sticks, a baseball bat and smashed their faces with a cinder block.

A $5M dollar bail was set for each suspect. If convicted on both charges, each of the suspects is facing two life terms in prison. Both Carrillo and Tofoya are charged as adults. 

The faces of the two victims were so badly disfigured beyond recognition that police are having a difficult time identifying them. The bodies of both homeless men were found last Saturday around 8:00 a.m. in a vacant lot adjacent to where the two of the youngest teens reside.

The two victims were killed and a third victim, Jerome Eskeets was able to escape a fatal beating. Eskeets was taken to a local hospital and was treated for injuries. He told police that one of the suspects that beat him lived at a nearby home where the bodies were found, according to the criminal complaint. Tofoya told police that he had broken with his girlfriend and got mad, so they all decided to go out and beat up homeless people. He also confessed that they have also beaten at least 50 other homeless people in the area. Police are also seeking information about other possible victims as well.

The suspects were identified as Navajo and Native Americans by another homeless man, Emerson Roanhorse, 62, who told police that he witnessed the attack.