:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(749x0:751x2)/Froylan-Villegas-tout-05794b23daaa462aa8b4bc4cdeea22d7.jpg "2 Gang Members Will Spend Life in Prison for Killing 11-Year-Old in Tragic Case of Mistaken Identity")
NEED TO KNOW
- Froylan Villegas, 11, was killed in a 2023 drive-by shooting as his family left an Albuquerque baseball game
- Two gang members, Jose Romero and Nathan Garley, mistook the family’s truck for a rival’s and fired more than a dozen rounds
- Froylan’s cousin, Tatiana, was paralyzed; his mother and infant brother were also in the truck but were uninjured
Two gang members have been sentenced to life in prison after opening fire on a truck carrying a New Mexico family — killing an 11-year-old boy and paralyzing his cousin in a tragic case of mistaken identity.
Jose Romero, 23, and Nathen Garley, 22, were sentenced Monday to life in prison plus 46 years for the September 2023 shooting that killed Froylan Villegas outside an Albuquerque Isotopes baseball game, according to NBC News.
The pair were convicted in February of first-degree murder, attempted murder, shooting at a motor vehicle and tampering with evidence, per the outlet.
PEOPLE previously reported that Froylan had been riding in the backseat of his family’s white Dodge pickup when suspects in another vehicle opened fire through the sunroof of their Dodge Durango, mistakenly believing they were shooting at a rival gang member they had argued with that night.
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More than a dozen rounds were fired — Froylan was shot in the head and died at the scene. His cousin, 23-year-old Tatiana Villegas, was hit multiple times and is now paralyzed from the chest down.
Froylan’s mother and his infant brother were also in the car, but were not physically harmed.
Bernalillo County District Attorney Sam Bregman said in a statement that he hopes the verdict brings “come sort of peace and justice to Froylan’s family.”
“We’re very happy as a family that we got justice for Froylan and me,” Tatiana Villegas told ABC affiliate KOAT. “And that’s what matters. The rest we leave in God’s hands. We’re glad to close this chapter and move on.”
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The shooting sparked statewide concern over youth gun violence, prompting Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham to declare a temporary public health emergency with a ban on firearms in parks and playgrounds across Albuquerque.
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Prosecutors said surveillance video, ballistic analysis and eyewitness testimony were crucial in securing the two mens’ convictions.
Under New Mexico law, their verdict automatically triggers an appeal.
Read the full article here