Albuquerque police charge man with another homicide

Albuquerque police charge man for third homicide

Police say one man killed three people in separate shootings in Albuquerque.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Police say one man killed three people in separate shootings in Albuquerque. 

Albuquerque police had been working to find and arrest Gabriel “Memphis” Valenzuela-Greene after witnesses told investigators he was behind two deadly shootings. 

Police say they couldn’t find Valenzuela-Greene because he was only known by an alias.

After two shootings in the same day, police were able to gather evidence linking him to both.

“I just consider this individual a very violent individual who has been involved in situations that resorts to violence up to including killing people,” said APD Chief Harold Medina. 

On Friday, APD charged Valenzuela-Greene with a third murder. The victim was Donte Barnes. 

According to APD, Valenzuela-Greene shot and killed Barnes in a Twisters parking lot near Menaul and University on March 13. 

Earlier this month, APD spoke about the violent string of crimes investigators have tied Valenzuela-Greene to. 

Police say Valenzuela-Greene sold fentanyl pills at lower rates to undercut other sellers.

“All three homicides centered around the same thing, and it was drugs, and it was really robbing drug dealers and taking their lives during the process. Which highlights the absolute dangerousness involved with drug dealing or carrying around large amounts of drugs are things of value, and other people know about it,” said Kyle Hartsock with APD’s Criminal Investigation Division. 

Barnes was shot and killed in the afternoon. But that morning, APD says Valenzuela-Greene shot and killed Lawrence Zamora near Pennsylvania. 

Police say surveillance video shows Valenzuela-Greene in the area of the shooting, firing a gun before running off. 

APD says bullet casings from the morning shooting match those from the afternoon shooting. Witness descriptions also linked Valenzuela-Greene to both shootings. 

Nine days before those shootings, police say he shot two other people. One of them, Jacob Rivera, died and the other was hit in the leg in an alley near Indiana and Cochiti.

Witnesses at that shooting told police the two people owed Valenzuela-Greene money and that’s why he shot them.  

APD arrested Valenzuela-Greene just two days after the March 13 shootings. A grand jury indicted Valenzuela-Greene for all three murders Friday. 

APD also says he’s a suspect in two kidnappings and a carjacking incident. 

Valenzuela-Greene is in jail. No court date has been scheduled for this latest murder charge.