The uncle of a 23-year-old murder victim disrupted what was supposed to be a routine pretrial hearing on the matter in Albuquerque last week, leaping over a barricade, tackling the defendant and setting off a brawl that ended with several people in handcuffs.
Two men were detained after the fight, which was captured on video and began when Carlos Lucero, 40, attacked Alexander Ortiz, who is accused of killing Mr. Lucero’s niece, Alianna Farfan, according to a criminal complaint.
Bernalillo County sheriff’s deputies who were in the courtroom when the brawl erupted around 9:30 a.m. local time wrote in the complaint that Mr. Lucero said, “He killed my niece like a coward,” adding that “it was worth every moment.”
Mr. Ortiz’s father, Joeray Ortiz, was one of several people who joined the brawl, according to the complaint, though he told deputies that he was trying to “break up the fight.”
In February 2024, Alexander Ortiz was charged with murder in the fatal shooting of his ex-girlfriend, Ms. Farfan, in her apartment. Mr. Ortiz was later charged with murdering another woman, Nicole Maldonado, who was fatally shot outside a convenience store six days after Ms. Farfan was killed.
Two months after Ms. Farfan’s death, Mr. Lucero and his wife were granted custody of her 1-year-old daughter, The Albuquerque Journal reported.
In the fight on Friday, Mr. Lucero and another man who punched Mr. Ortiz, Pete Ysasi, struck a corrections officer who was trying to protect Mr. Ortiz from the attack, the complaint said. It was not clear whether Mr. Ysasi, 51, knew the defendant.
Mr. Lucero, Mr. Ysasi and Joeray Ortiz were treated at a hospital, the complaint said.
Mr. Lucero and Mr. Ysasi were charged with battery upon a peace officer and assault on a jail, according to court records. They have both since been released, according to jail records.
The next court hearing in Mr. Ortiz’s case is scheduled for Friday.
The post Murder Victim’s Uncle Attacks Defendant in New Mexico Courtroom appeared first on New York Times.
