His Mother's Remains Were Found in a Freezer. He Allegedly Told Police She Had 'Gone to the Dark Side’ By Christine Pelisek

A New Mexico man is accused of murdering and partially dismembering his mother.

Leroy Vallejos, 49, is charged with an open count of murder in the first degree and tampering with evidence in connection with the death of his 69-year-old mother Ernestina Lucero, per the Office of the Second Judicial District Attorney, Bernalillo County.

According to an arrest warrant affidavit obtained by PEOPLE, Vallejos admitted to killing is mother, allegedly claiming that she was conspiring with others against him and that she was part of a “group of people giving their lives to darkness.”

The case came to light on Oct. 17 when Ernestina’s niece called the Albuquerque Police Department to report her aunt missing. Police learned that Ernestina had not made contact with any family members in a month and that she had told her niece that she was afraid of Vallejos, who lived with her, according to the affidavit.

The niece allegedly told police that Vallejos said he hadn’t seen Ernestina since Oct. 15, supposedly having left with a boyfriend no one else was aware of.

Officers went to the home on Tuesday, Oct. 28 for a welfare check after an employee with a care company said they hadn’t had contact with Ernestina since Sept. 12. A neighbor told police they hadn’t seen Ernestina in more than a month, last seeing her when she was allegedly loudly arguing with her son, per the affidavit.

Vallejos allegedly told the neighbor that his mother had gone to Mexico with her boyfriend.

When officers approached Vallejos, he allegedly told them that he last saw his mother between Oct. 15 and Oct. 17.

When officers went inside, they found large chest freezer in the kitchen with “what appeared to be the partially dismembered remains of an adult human being in plastic bags.”

Police detained Vallejos and placed him in a police car “at which time he made an utterance to the effect of ‘that’s not who I am. I’m not a bad guy. The truth is going to come out about this,” according to the affidavit.

After arresting Vallejos, he allegedly said he was “not a bad guy” and later told investigator he “snapped.”

“I’ve dealt with it for years and years and years and years,” he allegedly said, per the affidavit. “I should have just sucked it up again, but I didn’t man, you know?”

Leroy would go on to tell officers his mom and other family members “were part of a group of ‘people giving their lives to darkness,'” according to the affidavit.

“Leroy indicated that his mother, along with numerous other family members of his were part of a group of ‘people giving their lives to darkness,’” according to the affidavit. “Leroy believed he had discovered that he had been ‘promised to Satan’ by his mother based upon statements he had heard from other ‘witches’ combined with his own speculation.”

He allegedly told police that his mother had been in the freezer for three weeks.

He claimed he strangled her and “advised he placed his mother in a chokehold ‘for a little while. For a long time, man. It’s not like what you think.”

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Leroy would have turned himself in, per the affidavit, but “loved his dogs and did not want to be separated from them.”

A detention hearing is scheduled for Nov. 4.