Collin Romero,14, and Ahmed Lateef, 15, were reported missing in early December of 2018, two weeks later, their bodies were found buried in the mesa area west of Rio Rancho.
A jury in 2nd Judicial District Court found 23-year-old Stephen Goldman Jr., 26-year-old Jimmie Atkins and 18-year-old Julio Almentero guilty of two counts each of first-degree murder, kidnapping and armed robbery. Prosecutors said 14-year-old Ahmed Lateef and 15-year-old Collin Romero were found buried in a remote area of Sandoval County about two weeks after their disappearance in December 2018.
Autopsies in the case revealed the two boys suffered cuts, lacerations and bruising before being fatally shot. Lateef was shot 19 times and Romero at least nine times.
The prosecution argued that Lateef attempted to buy a firearm to get back at Atkins for a robbery, which conspired the three men to go after the two boys.
Social media videos played in court showed Atkins filming Almentero beating the boys in the back seat while he recorded from the front. Defense attorneys argued the videos showed hazing but could not prove they committed the murders.
Investigators say the two Albuquerque teens were tortured and killed over marijuana. Autopsy reports show just how brutal their deaths were.
The Office of the Medical Investigator reports that these boys were tortured, each ultimately killed by gunfire.
“The bodies that were recovered were tortured, multiple gunshot wounds throughout the bodies including gunshot wounds to the feet and legs that would not have been killing shots, it would have been for torture purposes.”
A judge sentenced three men to two consecutive life sentences each in the 2018 beating and shooting deaths of two teenage boys on the West Mesa. The sentence requires Stephen Goldman Jr., 23, Jimmie Atkins, 26, and Julio Almentero, 18, each to serve 60 years in prison before they become eligible for parole. Second Judicial District Judge Stan Whitaker said that a lesser sentence would diminish the lives of the two boys who were killed.
Julio "FaFa" Interview: • Julio Fabian "Fafa" Al...
16 ноя 2023
