Man turned himself in, charged in recent homicide

Matthew Reisen, Albuquerque Journal, N.M.
·2 min read

Jun. 12—ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A man turned himself in to authorities on Friday, saying he was responsible for the death of another man earlier this week.

Yoen Sotolongo, 37, is charged with an open count of murder in the death of 37-year-old Leisudis Herrera on Monday.

According to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court:

Officers responded around 3:30 p.m. on June 7 to a shooting in the 1500 block of Columbia SE and found Herrera shot to death near a motorcycle. A friend of Herrera's told police an acquaintance, Sotolongo, shot Herrera as he drove by on his motorcycle and then beat him after he fell off the bike.

A friend of Sotolongo's told police the windows to Sotolongo's car had been shot out and earlier that day he helped him estimate how much it would cost to fix. He said the two men went to get alcohol and then stopped to talk to some friends on the way back to Sotolongo's house.

The friend told police a man drove by them on a motorcycle and he heard gunshots and saw Sotolongo running after the man and shooting at him. On Thursday, an attorney called detectives and said a client, Sotolongo, wanted to turn himself in.

Sotolongo met with police and told them a man on a motorcycle drove by he and some friends twice and, the second time, the man was laughing and reaching for something. Sotolongo said he believed the man was reaching for a gun so he shot him and then ran from the apartments.

Sotolongo told police the man made no threats to him and didn't say anything. But police said Sotolongo seemed to imply that he believed the man may have been responsible for shooting out his car windows but "he did not know for sure."