ABQ man sentenced to 13 years for role in shooting homeless man

Olivier Uyttebrouck , Albuquerque Journal, N.M.
·3 min read

Sep. 20—More than five years after two teenagers fatally shot a homeless man, a judge on Wednesday sentenced Timothy Chavez to 13 years in prison for his part in the 2018 killing of Ronnie Ross.

Chavez, now 21, pleaded guilty in 2021 to first-degree murder for acting with a second teen to shoot Ross, then attend a party at an Albuquerque hotel where they told others about the shooting, a prosecutor said Wednesday.

The pair later returned to the scene and shot Ross a second time.

Ross, who was from Shiprock, was shot 12 times in all, including five times to his head.

"I appreciate the fact that you were extremely young, at the time of this offense," 2nd Judicial District Judge Courtney Weaks told Chavez at the sentencing hearing. "Certainly, if you were an adult at the time, you would be looking at a different sentence altogether."

Chavez's co-defendant, 22-year-old Anthony Gallegos, pleaded guilty earlier this month to first-degree murder and faces up to 20 years in prison. His sentencing hearing is scheduled Nov. 16, also before Judge Weaks.

Chavez's attorney, Marie Legrand Miller, rejected earlier media reports that the pair shot Ross for sport, saying Chavez had believed Ross was armed at the time.

"My client was young, high on Xanax, intoxicated, thought that Ronnie Ross had a gun," Legrand Miller told Weaks. "That's what Timothy (Chavez) perceived at the time."

But Chavez doesn't contend the killing was a case of self-defense, she said.

"I'd first like to apologize to Ronnie Ross' family for what happened and what I did," Chavez said shortly before he was sentenced.

"That night I was not in the right mind-frame that I should have been," he said. "I was over my head and scared and made mistakes that I shouldn't have."

The Navajo Nation Human Rights Commission issued a statement read at the hearing that called Ross's death "horrendous and despicable." The commission asked Weaks to sentence Chavez to the maximum 15 years allowed under the plea agreement.

Ross was a member of the Navajo Nation who moved to Albuquerque to find employment, the statement said.

Police were called to the 1200 block of Menaul NE near a T-Mobile call center on March 18, 2018, after Ross' body was found on some rocks on the north side of the street.

Several young people identified in a criminal complaint as "concerned citizens" came forward and identified Chavez and Gallegos as the shooters.

The group had been celebrating a birthday at the Crowne Plaza Hotel the night of the shooting. Chavez and Gallegos left the party and shot Ross in the early morning hours, the complaint said.

Chavez and Gallegos showed off the gun after returning to the party and bragged about shooting a homeless man, according to the complaint.

Chavez and Gallegos then left the party again and returned to the scene, where they found Ross still alive. Gallegos then shot Ross again, the complaint said.