Charges yet to be filed in killing at Española Lotaburger

Aug. 23—Nearly a week after authorities named Ricky Martinez Jr. the primary suspect in an armed robbery and fatal shooting Aug. 16 at a Blake's Lotaburger in Española, he still has not been charged with the crimes.

Martinez, 31, was arrested a day later in Santa Fe on a federal warrant accusing him of violating the terms of his parole in an unrelated case. He faces other charges in three separate armed robberies in Española, court records show. He also is suspected in a string of additional robberies throughout Northern New Mexico and faces federal counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm and interfering with commerce by threats and violence.

Española Police Chief Mizel Garcia said detectives are still investigating the Aug. 16 death of 22-year-old Lotaburger employee Cypress Garcia and the armed robberies that have plagued Española in recent weeks.

"There's still parts of the investigation that have to be completed," Garcia said. "By no means are they going to submit a case that's not completely done."

Martinez will remain in federal custody while local detectives continue to compile their case against him, the chief added.

A criminal complaint filed Monday in Rio Arriba County Magistrate Court, accusing a woman of aiding Martinez, provides more alleged details about the slaying.

Adelene Urquijo, 35, who was arrested Friday by New Mexico State Police on a count of aiding or harboring a felon, is alleged to have told Española police detectives she was with Martinez the night of the shooting and he had stayed at her home for more than a day after the incident, according to the complaint.

Officers were dispatched to the Lotaburger around 9:30 p.m. in response to a report of a robbery and shots fired, the complaint said. They discovered Garcia with a gunshot wound in his right chest area and began performing CPR until medics arrived. Garcia did not survive.

Another employee had a head wound.

Detective Isiah Anaya wrote in the complaint he spoke with the girlfriend of one of the victims, who said she had been at the restaurant at the time of the shooting. She had taken off in her car in search of Garcia's killer — a man in a gray hooded sweatshirt and gray sweatpants whom she said she had seen run toward the Española Plaza.

She told police she came across a woman with red hair in a blue or green van and asked if she had seen anyone running that way, according to the complaint.

The van driver asked the witness if she was OK.

After several witness interviews, police on Friday identified the van driver as Urquijo, whom some witnesses referred to by the nickname "Addy," the complaint said.

Later that day, state police detained Urquijo as she was walking near Española city limits in the San Pedro area.

Victoria Lopez — the girlfriend of Lotaburger employee Cyress Garcia, the brother of Cypress Garcia — gave The New Mexican a similar account last week. Lopez, 21, said she spoke with a woman the night of the shooting whom she suspected was the getaway driver.

Lopez had stopped by the restaurant that night to wait for Cyress Garcia's shift to end, she said in an interview Thursday. The brothers had been working together at the time of the robbery and shooting. Cypress died in Cyress' arms, she said.

Lopez described the woman in the van, parked up the road from Lotaburger, as having long, red hair.

"I've seen the getaway driver; I know that this girl had something to do with it," Lopez said.

Urquijo told police she had been visiting a friend in Arroyo Seco, and Martinez was at the home, according to the criminal complaint. Her friend had to leave, Urquijo said, so she was asked to give Martinez a ride in her friend's van. Urquijo drove the van to a Sonic for a milkshake and some food, she said, and then took Martinez to his grandfather's residence in Española.

After Martinez's visit with his grandfather, Urquijo said, she began heading back to Arroyo Seco. But Martinez told her to drive instead to Española's west side and drop him off on the side of a road, the complaint said.

She allegedly told police she did not know what Martinez planned to do.

Martinez then told her to park up the road and wait for him, according to the complaint. A little while later, she heard gunshots.

When Martinez returned to the van, he told Urquijo he had shot someone and directed her to drive away, according to the complaint. She said she drove him back to her home in Arroyo Seco and allowed him to borrow her clothes.

Martinez stayed with Urquijo at her home for more than a day before he was picked up by his girlfriend and later arrested, the complaint said.

Court records don't show an extensive criminal history for Urquijo, who was booked Saturday in the Rio Arriba County jail. She has been charged in the past with traffic violations and pleaded guilty to a felony charge of tampering with evidence in 2017.

Martinez's most recent arrest comes months after he was released from federal prison.

A 2019 indictment in U.S. District Court charged Martinez with assault with intent to commit murder, assault with a dangerous weapon and assault resulting in serious bodily injury in a 2017 case on tribal land involving a Native American man. Court records show Martinez was convicted of a count of assault resulting in serious bodily injury and sentenced to 48 months in prison.

He was released March 15, court records show, but was later accused of violating the conditions of his release.

A July petition says a urine test for Martinez indicated the presence of a cocaine metabolite.

A federal arrest warrant was issued for Martinez on July 15, and it was executed Aug. 17, the day he was arrested.

Another arrest warrant affidavit, filed Aug. 17 in Rio Arriba County Magistrate Court, says Martinez faces three counts of armed robbery; a count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon; a count of shooting at a dwelling or occupied building; and a count of being a felon in possession of a firearm in three separate incidents — one the morning of Aug. 9 at a Dandy Burger, one the evening of Aug. 10 at a Shell gas station and one the night of Aug. 11 at a Walgreens.

Garcia said Martinez is suspected in six other robberies in the region, but charges in those cases have not yet been filed.

Previously, Martinez was convicted of escaping from the Rio Arriba County jail in July 2018. He was recaptured a short time later, according to court records.

He also has been convicted of counts of burglarizing a car, robbery, aggravated assault on a peace officer and shooting at or from a motor vehicle.