Santa Fe police arrest teen suspected in fatal shooting

Jul. 9—Santa Fe police have charged 18-year-old Efren Sifuentes-Gallegos with first-degree murder in the shooting of another teen Thursday in a vehicle parked outside the Smoke City Dos store on Airport Road.

A witness said, however, the death of 18-year-old Andres Griego-Alvarado appeared to be a tragic accident between friends, and a criminal complaint details Sifuentes-Gallegos' efforts to aid Griego-Alvarado after the shooting.

Both teens were recent graduates — Sifuentes-Gallegos from Capital High School and Griego-Alvarado from Santa Fe High — Cody Dynarski, a spokesman for Santa Fe Public Schools, said Friday.

He sent a statement from the district saying, "Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families, friends and those affected by this incident. Two lives are now interrupted by unnecessary gun violence; guns are not the solution."

Santa Fe High Principal Renee Salazar-Garcia had no comment on the death of Griego-Alvarado. Neither Santa Fe Schools Superintendent Hilario "Larry" Chavez nor Capital High Principal Jaime Holladay responded to requests for comment on the incident.

According to a criminal complaint filed in Santa Fe County Magistrate Court, surveillance video showed the teens were "horse playing or joking around" inside the store and continued the behavior outside before the shooting.

"As [Sifuentes-Gallegos] was sitting in the car he removed a gun from the small of his back," the complaint states. "He put the gun barrel on [Griego-Alvarado's] chest area."

The video showed Sifuentes-Gallegos' hand move due to the recoil of the gun, according to the complaint.

Both teenagers applied pressure to Griego-Alvarado's wound before driving off.

Sifuentes-Gallegos took Griego-Alvarado to an urgent care facility on Herrera Drive operated by Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center, Deputy Chief Ben Valdez said in a news release.

The criminal complaint says Sifuentes-Gallegos yelled for help at the medical center, and a woman began administering CPR on Griego-Alvarado. The woman asked Sifuentes-Gallegos to "do breaths on Andres," the complaint says.

"At some point while doing CPR on Andres, Efren wrote down his phone number and told the lady helping with the CPR he was going to get Andres' parents," the complaint says. However, it says, Sifuentes-Gallegos told police he "panicked" and went home instead. He was later arrested during a traffic stop.

Griego-Alvarado's death is at least the city's third homicide in 2022. In June, Juan Emmanuel Vazquez-Salas, 19, died after he was found with a gunshot wound at Las Palomas Apartments on Hopewell Street. Police charged Karl Rougemont with murder in March in the shooting death of Chris Vigil following a rush-hour dispute between the two city workers at the intersection of St. Michael's Drive and Cerrillos Road.

The incident closely followed the high-profile deaths of Santa Fe police Officer Robert Duran, 43, of Rio Rancho, and retired firefighter Frank Lovato, 62, of Las Vegas, N.M., in a crash on Interstate 25. It occurred during a wrong-way, high-speed chase of a vehicle police believed at the time was being driven by a man who had just kidnapped a woman.

Police said they found Jeannine Jaramillo of Albuquerque alone in the car. They allege she falsely reported the kidnapping and charged her with two counts of first-degree murder.

Asked if police believe Thursday's shooting may have been accidental, Deputy Chief Valdez said Sifuentes-Gallegos was arrested based on probable cause established by investigators and "obviously there was a criminal act that occurred."

"If it was an accidental thing, I don't know at this point if it would have moved forward with charges," he said.

D'Angelo Gonzales, an employee of Smoke City Dos, said in an interview he was working Thursday afternoon when Griego-Alvarado and Sifuentes-Gallegos came into the store. They both had been there several times before and seemed "happy" before the incident, he added.

"They came in together, and I couldn't tell anything was wrong," Gonzales said. "These guys were just being friends. ... They walked in dancing to the music in the background."

Gonzales said the three of them had a conversation before the teens left the store.

Then the shooting occurred.

While walking toward the back of the store, Gonzales said, he noticed their car moving in reverse with the driver's side door wide open. He didn't think much of it until he viewed the store's surveillance footage.

"They were talking, and his friend was just being stupid," Gonzales said. "It wasn't like he was trying to hurt his friend or anything. I could tell there was no intention."

Lt. David Webb said detectives canvassed the area surrounding Smoke City Dos and obtained video evidence of the vehicle, a red Volkswagen two-door coupe, according to the complaint.

Sifuentes-Gallegos was cooperative when he was arrested, Webb said.

But the criminal complaint said Sifuentes-Gallegos provided police with two different versions of the incident — one in which he said the two had driven away from the smoke shop when Griego-Alvarado was shot, and another in which he claimed Griego-Alvarado had grabbed the gun first and was shot as the two struggled for the weapon.

Along with a count of murder, Sifuentes-Gallegos faces one count of tampering with evidence that accuses him of hiding the gun, according to the criminal complaint. He told police he had disposed of the gun in an open field behind his property. The firearm and vehicle believed to be used during the incident have both been seized.

Sifuentes-Gallegos is being held in the Santa Fe County jail.

Griego-Alvarado's family members could not be reached for comment on his death. They have created a GoFundMe campaign to help cover the costs of his funeral.

"Our beloved Andres recently passed ... [he] was a wonderful son, brother, grandson and friend who touched the lives of those around him," the family wrote in a post on the web page.

The fatal shooting comes just two weeks after 18-year-old Estevan Montoya was sentenced to life in prison on a first-degree murder conviction in the 2020 shooting death of Santa Fe High basketball standout Fedonta "JB" White at a house party in Chupadero, a homicide that brought attention to a rise in local teen gun violence.

In another shocking incident involving teens, 18-year-old Joaquin Sanchez was accused of fatally shooting 17-year-old Joshua Vigil in early January following an altercation at a New Year's Eve party at Sanchez's home in Ribera. Sanchez was charged with second-degree murder. Both were members of the West Las Vegas High football team.