ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez has appealed the pretrial detention decision for a man accused of shooting his stepmother at a graduation ceremony in Albuquerque.
Cristian Bencomo, 21, reportedly committed the shooting on May 8 at the Albuquerque Convention Center. The Second Judicial District Attorney’s Office asked twice for pretrial detention, and at one point, played a video of the shooting in court. Judge Emeterio Rudolfo denied the pretrial detention requests and placed Bencomo under house arrest with a GPS monitor.
Rudolfo ruled that Bencomo can also live with his grandma and that he can only leave the house for legal or medical appointments.
The New Mexico Department of Justice filed an appeal over the decision, calling it an “abuse of discretion.” The appeal states that Bencomo “committed a brazen crime without any apparent fear of consequences to himself or innocent bystanders, and successfully deceived the person who is now responsible for supervising him.”
“That person is back in the exact same home that they were living in the day before this crime occurred, under the exact same conditions. It’s just mind-boggling to me,” said Torrez, adding that
Torrez also said that the legislature needs to step in and reform the state’s pretrial detention process.
